Dreams are Dreams
by cocoa-latte
Summary: The former teams of seven, eight, ten and thirteen go to a mystery trip that their former senseis and the fifth hokage arranged. Where are they going? They don't know! SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaIno, and NejiTen.
1. Chapter one

Dreams are dreams  
Chapter One  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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The wind was blowing softly in Konoha. The sakura trees were in full bloom and their soft pink petals fluttered down to the ground. The dirt roads were dusty, all was momentarily quiet and peaceful…

"Damn it! There's not enough ramen," screeched Naruto, shattering Sakura's ear. Naruto turned to her and gave a sheepish grin. "Gomen Sakura-chaaaan."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Honestly, how can you eat so much ramen and not get sick? Instant ramen isn't good for you," Sakura said as she tucked a strand of loose pink hair behind her ear gently.

Sakura was over at Naruto's small, cozy, and extremely messy apartment. She was helping Naruto pack for the mystery trip that the senseis and Hokage had planned; along with the other former genin teams.

Sakura had reluctantly agreed to come over to lend a hand with Naruto's packing. (Knowing that obviously wouldn't be capable of packing by himself.)

"Ne, Sakura-chan. Will you come with me to buy some more ramen please? It's just around the corner," the blond boy questioned.

Sakura sighed. "You _already _have enough ramen."

"Please," whined the seventeen-year-old boy.

Sakura grumbled, but agreed to go along anyways. '_First he talks me into helping him pack, and now this? I must be getting soft.'_

Naruto quickly ushered the pink-haired kunoichi out the brown wooden door. He quickly grabbed his old, but still cute _full _frog wallet that laid on top of his junky side table. Naruto stepped out the door, joining Sakura in the fresh breeze.

"Perfect weather, eh Sakura-chan?"

"Hai," answered Sakura as she looked up at the almost clear blue sky. There was a thin layer of clouds that overcastted the sky.

The two began to set down to the nearby corner store where ramen was often sold. Naruto glanced up at the cherry blossom covered tree. '_It's so beautiful...'_

"We're here!" exclaimed Sakura happily, breaking Naruto's reverie.

Naruto jolted out of his thoughts and pulled open the heavy door. Just as Naruto was roughly nearby the door was already occupied by someone else. Sakura lowered her jade eyes suspiciously at the man.

The silver-haired ex-ANBU stepped out of the store and glanced down at Sakura before resting his eyes on the vivacious blond-haired shinobi.

"Naruto, Sakura! What a pleasant surprise," said the smiling face of their former sensei.

'_Yah, this _is _a surprise. He doesn't even _live _on this side of Konoha,' thought Sakura warily._

"Were you going to buy some ramen with Naruto?" The question was audibly directed to Sakura. Sakura nodded mutely.

"You do _know _that we will be feeding you, right Naruto?" asked Kakashi with mock concern.

Naruto's cheek had a twinge of pink, but ignored the question. "Um, will there be any ramen?"

"Is ramen the only thing you think about?" queried Kakashi as he rubbed a sore spot on his back.

"Well..." began Naruto, "Ne, you never answered my question! Will there be ramen?"

"No, none at all," answered Kakashi merrily, "Well, I best be off now. Ja"

Naruto pushed open the door again and headed towards the ramen aisle. It seemed to be empty. '_Damn it" _thought Naruto as he began to walk over to the gray counter.

"Ne, old man. I would like a 24 pack of ramen please." Naruto said, feeling happy.

The store manager looked up at the hyper shinobi. "I'm afraid that we're sold out, Naruto." the man said softly, his eyes crinkled.

"Shit, why do these things always happen to me?" groaned Naruto, "I'm going to die if I don't get to eat any. Who knows where we're going?"

"Naruto, shut up, please!" hissed Sakura as she fretfully apologized to the old man behind the counter.

Sakura nudged Naruto out the door. "Why don't we go back and finish packing?" asked Sakura, distracting Naruto's mind off ramen for a while, as they walked on the red and brown cobblestone sidewalk.

"Sure," muttered Naruto, "Why do you think that Kakashi-sensei, and the other senseis won't tell us where we're going?"

Sakura concentrated on the sidewalk. "To be honest, I don't really know. They probably thought that it'd be 'interesting' to not tell us. So then, we won't be prepared for wherever we're going. That's just a guess though." she added hastily.

"Sakura-chan… do you have any ideas of what I should pack?" asked Naruto hopefully.

Sakura flopped down on Naruto's lumpy orange couch. The afternoon was _exhausting. _Sakura had the task of sorting through Naruto's clothes. They were strewn all over the place. In the closet, on the floor, on the _kitchen _table.

"Sakura-chan," started Naruto.

"Hn?"

"I'm going out to dinner with a few people tonight. Wait, let's rephrase that: I'm going out to dinner with many people tonight. Hinata's coming, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji... Tenten's coming she convinced Neji to come too. Basically, everyone's coming."

Sakura smiled. "Sure! My mom's not expecting me for dinner anyways."

Naruto grinned brightly. "Okay, be at 'The Hot Pot House' at six. I reserved it under _my_ last name," said Naruto, exaggerating the word 'my'. "Bring money too. I'm only paying for my own meal," hr added with a cheeky grin.

Sakura nodded. "I'm going home to change and pack now."

Sakura began to walk to the brown wooden door. "Ja," said Sakura softly as she walked through the door. She heard the muffled voice of Naruto saying bye, before closing the door gently.

Sakura walked slowly back to her home, enjoying the sunshine. She had known Naruto and Sasuke since she was twelve. Already five years had past… Yet everything was different. The days of team seven, were over. It was just another memory lingering in her mind. It had been such a long time since the gang had been together.

Sakura stopped when she came to her favourite spot in Konoha. The sakura blossoms were littering the ground. Sakura walked up to the tree and sat down and leaned her back against it.

"Sakura," said a voice behind her back. She recognized it as Sasuke's voice.

The inflection in his tone gave no emotion. As usual.

It had been three years since Sakura had stopped acting like a fool, chasing him. Yet, she knew that deep down, she still loved him. Even Ino had given up. It seemed that even Sakura herself couldn't melt the ice in his heart. Deep down, she loved him, though she wouldn't act a fool chasing _him_ anymore.

"Hai," answered Sakura, her back still to him, "why are you here? Did you want to talk"

"No," answered Sasuke.

"Oh. Well, everyone's going to hot pot later on tonight. Are you coming?" inquired Sakura.

"Maybe. Haven't seen the others for a while."

Sakura silently agreed. It really has been too long. "Well, I have to go home and pack now. I'll see you around I suppose," Sakura finished awkwardly as she continued walking down the cobblestone sidewalk.

Later-

Sakura had finished packing for the trip. She folded everything neatly into her suitcase. She sighed and picked up the framed picture of the old team seven that she kept safely on her clutter-free desk. Memories that she yearned for flooded through her mind, haunting her. They were the best of friends back then. But now, she wouldn't dare say that they were all still friends.

_'He's to caught up in his goal of being an avenger,' _thought Sakura bitterly.

Sakura walked up to her closet and pulled out some more casual clothes to wear other than her usual daily ninja clothes. She scanned around her closet until she found what she was looking for. The pink haired teenager pulled out a light pink top and white jeans and laid them down on her bed.

"Sakura-chan," called Sakura's mom.

"Hai."

"Are you going out later?"

"Yah, so don't cook dinner for me," answered Sakura as she got changed.

Sakura grabbed her wallet and stuffed it into her bag and walked into fresh crisp air. She had a tendency for being the early one there.

Sakura pushed open that glass door to the restaurant. A waiter came up to her. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Hai. Uzumaki." The waiter led her to the noisy people where Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Shino, and Naruto were.

"Wow! And I thought that I'd be early!" exclaimed Sakura as she took a seat on the colourful chair. She took a menu from the pile in the centre of the table and flipped through it absently.

After everyone arrived, Naruto called the waiter to take their order.

"What would you like?" asked the waiter with a bored expression.

"Umm, Chef's Hot pot special for 12 people onegai."

"Okay, any drinks?" asked the waiter hesitantly.

Kiba glanced up and scratched his neck. "Ne, Neji, Tenten, Lee. You three are of age. Would you like any drinks? Beer maybe?" he asked eagerly as he intently watched the three cautious chuunins.

"Hey, share some beer with me, okay?" Naruto said cheerfuly.

Sakura kicked Naruto under the table. "Sometimes, I don't know what's wrong with you!" she hissed at him.

The three chuunins shook their heads stonily, as if having alcohol was a crime.

Kiba looked disappointed. "Okay, pop for all of us please."

The waiter left with their orders, and a conversation stirred up.

Sakura listened to Ino's chatter. "Do you think that we're going to go somewhere warm or cold? Damn them. I don't know what to pack for." Sakura tuned in and out as she looked down into her pop.

"Ne! Maybe we should trash Kakashi-sensei's apartment tonight for fun!" said the blond spiky haired ninja.

"Do you mean inside his apartment?" asked Ino excitedly as she swung her silky blond hair over her shoulder.

"Inside of course! We can go to the store, and buy eggs, toilet paper, and lots of sticky honey, or molasses!"

_'Hell yah_!' cheered on Inner Sakura. Sakura smiled. "Are you sure that it'll work?" she asked dubiously.

"It will work," said Naruto adamantly as he poked his chopsticks into the thinly cut pork and stuck it into the pot of boiling soup.

Sakura didn't say anything as she took a sip of her drink. The idea sounded appealing but if it didn't work…

The waiter came by, refilling their drinks. The look of regret was on his face. Most likely regretting that he applied for the job in the first place, having to serve a bunch of talkative seventeen and eighteen year olds.

The night was long, although it flew by quick. Soon, the last piece of meat was swimming in the pot. Kiba picked up his chopsticks and reached over for the meat. Yet, before his chopsticks reached the meat, Chouji used the back of his chopstick to poke Kiba's hand away.

"Only I can eat the last piece of meat, that remains from or tasty dinner!" exclaimed Chouji.

"Does it really matter fat ass?" asked Ino.

"I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED" yelled Chouji, causing several tables to stare.

"Ino," began Shikamaru through gritted teeth, "Do you have to say that every time"

"I don't! It's the truth though, and you know it! Why can't you ever stand up for yourself?"

An argument stirred up, with Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji arguing, yelling, driving everyone else insane.

"I think the rest of us will just be leaving now…" muttered Kiba as he patted Akamaru tenderly on his head. Everyone slapped a couple twenty's on the table and left for the glass door. Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji followed them anyways, their argument had finally ended.

"Have a nice day," said the waiter meekly.

"Yosh!" shouted Naruto. "Lets go to the store and buy, heheh, toilet paper, eggs, and sticky honey." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Then we can trash Kakashi-sensei's house"

"Okay, here's the plan. We'll open his window, I stuck I gum there so it won't close properly the other day. And we'll just throw the stuff in through the window, so it'll be harder for him to sense our charka."

"Are you sure that this'll work? He's a jounin. How can he not sense or chakra" asked Ten Ten disbelief.

"Trust me on this one" answered Naruto proudly as he scratched the itchy spot on his back.

"After what happened after last time?" snorted Neji, his cold white eyes hardening.

"Last time was an accident though," Naruto grumbled. Damn that Hyuuga, and his memory.

The chuunins carefully walked up the stairs to the door of Kakashi's apartment. Naruto carefully wedged opened the window with a tree branch.

"Throw the eggs first," someone whispered. They picked up a few eggs each, and randomly threw it inside of Kakashi's apartment. "Squirt the honey next!" someone else whispered. Hinata handed Naruto the honey, she blushed heavily, but thankfully, it was dark.

Naruto squirted the honey all over the carpet. He saw a glint of orange lying on the coffee table. '_Kakashi-sensei's Icha Icha _ _Paradise__! Yosh! I'll cover the whole book in honey!' _Naruto was handed another bottle of honey. He twisted open the yellow cap and aimed for the Icha Icha paradise collection.

Suddenly, the fluorescent light turned on, blinding Naruto who's head was inside the apartment, his body, outside the window.

Naruto gulped as Kakashi entered the room, still in his usual jounin clothes. He looked angry.

"You, are all your friends will be cleaning up my apartment until it's spotless, and one of you, will get me a brand new hardcover edition of icha icha paradise. Is that clear?" Kakashi's voice was dangerously cold.

Naruto gulped nervously and nodded. Naruto stuck his head back outside. They turned the doorknob, finding it that it was unlock. Kakashi was already in his bedroom, his door closed.

"Kuso, we should've known better than have listened to YOUR plan," hissed Kiba as he grabbed a mop, located by the door and began mopping up some of the mess.

"Gomen," muttered Naruto, his eyes downcast as he started picking some of the eggshells on the carpet.

5 A.M. - STILL at Kakashi's apartment-

The apartment was nearly clean. They rented one of those carpet cleaners, which got of almost all the stains, but one.

"It still won't come off?" asked Sakura as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"No," came the muffled reply from Tenten.

"Kuso," scorned Sasuke, "We still have to get the Icha Icha paradise series for Kakashi."

Naruto snorted. "I'm still underage. The only ones who can get it are Tenten, Neji, and Lee. Can you get it Tenten?"

Tenten looked up with a disgusted look on her face. "No way! By the way, I'm still trying to get this damn stain off," finished Tenten firmly.

Neji glared at Naruto, so he decided to not ask him and asked Rock Lee instead.

"Yosh! I will buy back Kakashi's Icha Icha paradise," he gave a wink and left out the door."

"Wow," began Sakura, "he sure agreed quickly." She thought for a moment. Her voice dropped to a hush, "do you think it's because… he wants to peek into it?" asked Sakura, as bad thoughts ran through her mind.

After 10 minutes, Rock Lee came back with the books tightly sealed in the bag. He looked a bit flushed. "Here," he began, "just leave it on the coffee table."

Sakura looked at him suspiciously but didn't want to think Lee reading Icha Icha Paradise.

The apartment was finally clean, cleaner than before they made the mess. It was nearing 5:30 A.M., and they'd have to get up bright and early in the morning. (It was already morning).

"Finally. We get to go home and sleep," said Naruto as a yawn escaped his mouth.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Sakura dragged herself back to her home, which was located 5 blocks away from Kakashi-sensei's apartment. As she was a few houses away from her house, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver key. She stuck the key into the keyhole and turned the doorknob quietly. Her parents were already asleep. She walked up the stairs and grabbed a pair of fresh pajamas from the laundry basket and took a quick shower before retiring for what was left of the night.

The next morning former teams of seven, eight, ten, and thirteen gathered around in the waiting room of Tokyo's airport, with bags and rings under their eyes. Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai were already there. It was a wonder how they got there so early.

"What's wrong with you all?" asked Asuma with the cigarette still in his mouth, "it looks as if you haven't slept all night"

He waited for a reply but didn't get one. He raised an eyebrow at Kurenai and mouthed to her, '_must be partying.' _The jounin shrugged. "By the way, Gai, have you seen Kakashi yet?"

Gai shook his head

"I told him that the plane leaves half an hour than it really does. Hoping that he'll be half an hour earlier..." Kurenai informed them all.

They impatiently waited for a certain silver-haired jounin. He finally arrived, carrying four large bags of luggage.

"Sorry that I'm late." Kakashi glanced at his watch. "Only forty minutes late. Pretty good actually. Well, it's a really funny story actually, this morning, _right _after I got out the door-"

"-save the excuse," said Gai sourly.

"Will you tell us where we're going?" murmured Tenten, her eyes partly close.

"Uhh... we'll tell you later," said Asuma.

They got on the plane, thankfully without being late. Sakura sighed happily, glad that she'd be able to get a good night's sleep. She only slept for about half-an-hour last night, before she was woken up by her parents. She then quickly rushed to the airport.

"Kakashi? Don't you think that we should tell them where we're going?" asked Asuma.

"Nope. Not yet. Maybe when we get there," said Kakashi.

AN: Very excited, because drum roll, please! This is my first Naruto story! Haha, cough anyway.


	2. Chapter two

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter two  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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After Sakura sat down her assigned seat next to Ino-pig, she pulled out her day bag from the baggage rack. She unzipped the front of her bag and pulled out her magazine. She flipped through the few pages of advertisements and quickly scanned through the table of contents. Nothing in particular caught her eye.

Sakura could hear the muffled voice of Kakashi, "Put on your seatbelts children! Remember, safety first!"

Sakura clenched her fists together and had a strong urge to go up to Kakashi and punch his eyes out. She sunk deeper in her seat knowing that she wasn't even half as strong as Kakashi, she wasn't anywhere close.

Her head turned when she heard the deep annoyed voice of Shikamaru. "Mendou Kuse," muttered Shikamaru. It was so typical of him to say that. Sakura caught Ino rolling her pretty blue eyes.

"Ne, Sakura-chan!" said the bubbly blond haired boy, quickly getting Sakura's attention. Sakura gave a small smile and nodded. "I wonder where we're going! I hope it's somewhere nice and warm with palm trees, and pretty tropical flowers, with nice blue water..." It was then that Sakura started to tuned out.

Ten minutes later, Naruto was _still _talking, on and on and on… Sakura was starting to feel a headache coming. Maybe it was Naruto's chatter, or maybe it was just the unstableness of the plane. "Naruto," began Sakura, cutting Naruto off. "I'm not feeling so well. Maybe we can talk later."

Naruto agreed, feeling slightly disappointed and sat back down on his seat, beside Sasuke-_baka. _

Sakura's eyes started to get blurry. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

A few hours later

Sakura woke with a start as the plane gave another lurch. Sakura groaned and rolled over on her seat and faced the window. She hated planes; there was never anything to do. Well, nothing that she _wanted _to do. The chatter and laughter of the Konoha chuunins and other strangers surrounded her. She took out some Tylenol and swallowed it with great difficulty along with some water, hoping to clear her killer headache.

Ino turned around to face Sakura. "You wanna play big two?" asked Ino, holding a small pack of cards. "No thanks," said Sakura meekly. Ino sighed and tried to recruit others to join, for a game of big two.

* * *

The twelve chuunins hopped off of the small plane, along with their sensei's and looked around their surrounding incredulously. Snow, snow and more snow, with dark green fir trees everywhere. Their thin jackets certainly did not help with the cold. Ten Ten wrapped her blue jacket around herself, attempting to keep warm, but failing. '_So much for somewhere warm with palm trees and clear blue water.'_

"Skiing!" said Kakashi enthusiastically while looking down upon the doubtful chuunins.

"Ano sa, Ano sa! I wanted go somewhere nice and sunny though!" shouted the blond haired chuunins, making everyone wince. "Instead, we're stuck _here!_"

"Mendou kuse…" muttered a very annoyed Shikamaru again. He threw his head back and watched the low clouds pass slowly by. A few short moments passed, Shikamaru, still watching the clouds, and the air thick with tension. '_I rather watch the clouds all day long then to be here stuck with Ino…'_ thought the chestnut haired chuunins. The sky seemed slightly hazy, yet he could still see the sun clearly.

Shikamaru thoughts abruptly ended when a certain long blond hair kunoichi prodded him hard on his back. "Get moving, you're not really going to stand here all day watching the clouds are you?" said Ino, her voice made him wince. Shikamaru didn't say anything. He tried hard not to look into those pretty eyes of hers. Wait… where did that come from?

Ino sighed, sometimes; she wished she didn't even know Shikamaru. Ino's eyes started to wander, and landed on Sasuke. She _had to admit. _Well, she had always admitted this, but he was irresistibly hot, his character wasn't that hot, but his appearance sure was. She looked at his cold onyx eyes, she followed his gaze, and it lead her straight to Sakura. An evil smirk crept up on Ino's face…

* * *

Later 

Sakura was carefully refolding her clothes from her suitcase to the drawers. She was apparently sharing a room with _who else? _Ino. Ino was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone for a while. A shriek filled the air. The noise was coming from outside. Sakura treaded over Ino's suitcase and looked outside the window. The air was thick with flying snowballs.

A large smiled plastered over her face as she grabbed her warm jacket from the coat rack and headed out the large door._ Splat_ a perfectly round fluffy snowball nearly missed her head and hit the nearby window, making the glass shake.

"Ne! Sakura-chaaan, come join us!" cried Naruto.

"Sure!" replied Sakura, gladly accepting the invitation. Soon enough, the small snowball fight that consisted of Ino, Ten Ten, Naruto, and Shikamaru, became a snowball war when Chouji, Hinata, Kiba, Rock Lee, and even Sasuke and Neji joined in.

They quickly decided that it'd be Girls versus Guys. Although the guys had the advantage with seven boys whereas the girls only had four, the girls were still wining, due to Ten Ten's amazing aim.

Shikamaru ducked as another snowball came flying, he didn't duck fast enough, for the large snowball hit him squarely in the back. "Nani? What was that for?" asked the annoyed Shikamaru. Ino sighed, "It _is _a snowball figh-war. Is it not?"

Hinata formed a snowball and threw it attentively at Kiba. Lucky for Kiba as he quickly ducked with his quick reflexes, it hit Naruto on the back of his head. Hinata watched horrified as the snowball exploded on and stuck onto Naruto's spiky blond hair. "I-I'm s-so sorry N-Naruto-kun!" stuttered Hinata, the fear evident in her voice. Naruto shot her a wide foxy grin, "S'okay, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata felt her heart expand as she heard Naruto call her _Hinata-chan. _Not that it was the first time he added the _–chan _suffix. It was just that every time he call her name, she'd feel a blush crawl up her cheek, and her heart expand. She loved him so much, but he was too thick to see it.

Kiba threw a large snowball at Naruto with quite a lot of force, all the anger emitting out of him. _So what if Hinata-chan like him? I saw her first! She should be with me, ONLY me. _The snowball flew with such force, but missed Naruto, and instead hit the large window behind Naruto. The shattering of the glass echoed around the air.

"Shit," growled Kiba loudly.

One hour later

The snowball fight was long over. It abruptly ended when Kiba shattered that glass of the large window. The window still had a large hole in it, welcoming a large gust of wind and snow inside. The air inside was nearly as cold as outside. Sakura walked into the large living room with a white fluffy blanket wrapped around her body to keep warmth. Her hair lay limp trailing across her shoulders. There _was _no use staying indoors. Being outdoor would have been just as warm, but at least she had a roof over her head. Sakura sighed and felt a breeze sweep by, chilling her feet. It was now that she regretted not bringing her fuzzy pink slippers.

She sat curled up on one of the squishy sofa and looked outside, mesmerized by the falling slow, gently covering the trees with another layout of fluffy white snow. The once smooth snow on the ground was now craggy and hard after the intense snowball war.

She heard the front door and open and close. A few footsteps were heard, then stopped abruptly. Sakura didn't _mean _to listen in on them. But they were just _there. _She could hear the faint voice of Shikamaru and Chouji talking quietly. She thought it was Shikamaru and Chouji. She couldn't be too sure.

"It's not that! It's just that sometimes I hate her and sometimes I really…" Shikamaru's voice dropped, "Sometimes I really love her. You know what I mean?"

Chouji gave a sigh and popped another chip into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed with some difficulty, "I don't really want to spend my day talking about _Ino, _Shikamaru…"

Sakura gave a small smirk but remained quiet. She heard a sigh and the footsteps continued. They were _just _around the corner now. Shikamaru and Chouji nearly walked passed the large room, where Sakura was, curled up on the couch. Shikamaru looked at her flabbergasted. He recovered his composure "So, you were here the whole time eh?" It was a statement, not a question.

"I won't tell her, or anyone," promised Sakura.

Shikamaru looked at her doubtfully. She _had _been Ino's best friend… Shikamaru didn't say anything, but gave her a curt nod, and walked away. The footsteps faded out, and Sakura felt more alone than ever. A large hit of a hammer shocked her, and made her jump. She craned her neck to look out the door and saw Kiba hammering a large wooden board to cover the open window and the room immediately darkened.

Sakura sat there for a few moments, staring out at the falling snow. The door opened again, slightly irritating Sakura. There was a loud chatter, containing the voices of Ten Ten and Ino. They walked into the room and took off their coats, which were wet from the snow.

"Sakura-chan! It's _freezing _in here! Why won't you just light the fireplace!" exclaimed Ten Ten, while rubbing her hands together, creating friction to warm her hands.

Sakura smiled. "Well, I'm pretty warmed up by now-" began Sakura hesitantly.

Ino ignored herand performed a few hand seals and suddenly, a roaring fire appeared in the fireplace. They sat around chatting for a while. Talking about a whole variety things…

"Dinner!" said Kakashi in a go-happy voice, the mask was covering his mouth as always, making his words sound slightly muffled. The air was filled with an aroma of ramen. Sakura gave a small prayer hoping that it _wouldn't be only _ramen. Instant ramen was one of the things that she opposed to eating. It was unhealthy and gross. It was something that only Naruto would eat everyday – three square meals (any maybe more).

Ino, Ten Ten, and Sakura slowly got up and headed towards the kitchen. Her warm blanket was left on the couch.

The fluorescent lights of the kitchen made her eyes feel slightly sore, after coming from the dark room. On the long table, were many, many bowls of various types of ramen, including, miso, shrimp, pork, and chicken. The steam that emitted from the ramen, left the room steamy, and warm. Sakura edged closer to Kakashi, who was waiting for _another _pack of ramen to cook by the stove.

"Kakashi-sensei," began Sakura attentively, "Is there anything else _other _than ramen, that I can eat?"

Kakashi surveyed his pink-haired student. She had certainly grown over the years. He neglected her that time, when he was training Sasuke, and Naruto with Jiraiya. She then went to Tsunade for help, and trained with her instead. She still was nowhere as close as Naruto, Sasuke, or himself. But she was stronger than he thought she'd ever be.

Kakashi smiled under his black face mask. "'Fraid not!" he said cheerfully. He lifted the lid off the noodles and gave it a peek and shut it closed again.

Sakura furrowed her brow, "Can I just go out and have dinner at a restaurant or something?"

Kakashi shrugged and turned back to the stove and gave the noodles a good stir. "If you want. Naruto will finish the ramen anyways."

Sakura smiled a thanks. She got Ino, Sakura, Ten Ten, and Hinata to go with her. She was upstairs in her shared room with Ino, packing some money, keys, and some other items into her small black purse. She pulled out her white puffy from the closet and quickly put it on along with a blue scarf. Good thing her mom suggested her to bring it.

She waited in the hallway waiting for the others to get their stuff. There was an odd burning smell that lingered around in the air. It _could _be just smoke from the fireplace. It also could be something _really _burning.

"Wait for me please," she called over her back to Ino as she hurried down the stairs. She quickly located the area of burning. The kitchen. She rushed in and found the ramen that Kakashi _was _cooking, burning. The flames surrounded the element and the pot. Sakura quickly turned off the stove and killed the lid with a large lid nearby.

"Kakashi-sensei!" screamed Sakura with frustration.

Kakashi appeared at the doorway with his Icha Icha paradise book in his hand. He noticed Sakura's buring gaze towards it and quickly shoved it in his pocket.He gave a sheepish smile that was hidden underneath his mask. "Oops, I guess I left the stove unattended."

Everyone sweat dropped. Typical Kakashi…


	3. Chapter three

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter III  
by swt-angel-babi3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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It was a new day. The sun rose over the horizon, sparkling on the white fluffy snow. Sakura woke up sleepy-eyed. She was still in her bed, staring blankly at the low white ceiling. She opened her mouth widely and stifled a loud yawn. She felt a crank in her neck. She must have slept funny during the night.

Sakura's blue eyed roommate rolled over and rubbed her eyes. "Sheesh, Sakura, some people are _trying _to sleep. It's difficult when the first thing they hear when they wake up is a stupid-excuse-for-a-kunoichi yawning loudly enough for someone to fall in their mouth," muttered Ino, her eyes still closed.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino. She pulled off her blankets and covers,then sheheaded towards the bathroom door. "I wasn't even that loud," she grumbled.

Sakura closed the bathroom door behind her, making sure it was locked and quickly changed into a warm white sweater. She splashed cold water onto her face. She looked up into the frayed mirror. Her reflection looked peaky. Sakura brushed her teeth thoroughly. Plaque was never a good way to start a day. She gargled and rinsed quickly. She hated that sound. The gargling.

There was a loud knock on the door. "Ne! Are you done yet?" asked a loud rushed voice. Obviously it was Naruto.

"Nearly," answered Sakura as she brushed her pink locks straight.

"Hurry! I have to _go!_"

Sakura didn't answer as she quickly finished up. After a short amount of time, she opened the door. Not surprisingly Naruto quickly rushed in, roughly pushing Sakura out, and closed the door hurriedly.

Sakura headed down the stairs. The air seemed to get colder and colder by each step. She headed towards the cozy kitchen and pulled out the cereal from the cupboards before heading towards the fridge for milk. She found a glass bowl in the silver metal dish rack. She poured the milk into the bowl and ate her meal silently. The kitchen was oddly empty. She was to meet with her sensei at 6:05 sharp. Knowing Kakashi, he'd be there forty-five minutes late, or somewhere around there.

Sakura finished her breakfast quickly. She felt slightly isolated. No one seemed to be awake; if you didn't count Naruto of course. Well,if they were, they weren't here. She washed her dishes quickly and left them to dry on the dish rack. Sakura tied her hair in a high ponytail with a lime green hair band that she left on her wrist yesterday.

Sakura took her coat off the coat hanger and put the warm black over coat on. It was still 5:45. She had twenty minutes to waste before team seven's meeting. Sakura pulled open the large oak door and stepped out into the sun. The air was chilly and the snow was sparkling. Sakura walked for a few minutes and stopped by a large fir tree. She breathed in the fresh pine smell. It was one of her favourite scents ever. She wouldn't mind staying here forever.

* * *

It was precisely 6:05. Oddly enough, it seemed that all teams were meeting there at the same time. The twelve chuunins and _three _senseis waited in front of the large lodge for a certain ex-ANBU member. 

Ino glanced around, infuriated with the cold. She too was here, to meet her sensei, along with everyone else. Ino rubbed her hands together before pulling old a pair of mittens from her coat pocket. "It's freezing," she breathed.

"Yeah, must be at least negative-something degreesout here," Ten Ten agreed. Ten Ten shuffled her feet around the snow. "Are we doing anything in particular today, Gai-sensei?" she asked her mentor.

Gai turned to face his young pupil. "Skiing I suppose, it was Kakashi who had plans, really," he replied.

"Oi Sakura-chan! Lets go skiing together!" Naruto suggested loudly as he formed a large snowball in the palms of his hand.

Shikamaru gave an annoyed sigh and glanced over at Naruto. "It's not like the whole world can't hear you already."

Naruto glared at Shikamaru, "Shut up Shikamaru. It's none of your business," Naruto said incoherently.

They waited impatiently for Kakashi to finally come. "Can't we just start without him!" asked Ten Ten, exasperated.

Kurenai sighed. "He said he had important plans that he refused to share with anyone.

"Ohmigod, why does this always happen?" groaned Kiba.

"I dunno, he's always like this," explained Naruto. He blinked a few times. "The snow's so bright that it's hurting my eyes.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Kakashi arrived. The usual shout of "Your late!" came from a frustrated Sakura and an angry Naruto. 

"Well you see... I was taking a walk, and I saw a little boy building a snowman. He couldn't get the head on because it was too heavy, so I had to help him. I didn't know time was passing so quickly so I stayed with him to make a whole family of snow peop-" Kakashi started off but was interrupted by a loud shout of, "LIAR!"

"You cut me off. But still, that's got to be the longest on yet," said Kakashi, trying to sound upset, but they could hear a slight proud tone in his voice.

Kurenai sighed and asked Kakashi, "So what did you want them to do today?"

"Well, it's really simple actually. I was just planning on having them ski in partners or something today."

"Nani! We waited forty-five minutes for you to arrive and this is all we've been waiting to hear!" Naruto shouted.

"Hehe," Kakashi chuckled. His visible eye was crinkling.

The chuunins ignored him a found their way to the Ski rental lodge. Only to find an incredibly long line-up.

"How troublesome," grumbled Shikamaru. "This is as long as the great wall of china," he exaggerated.

"So we have to go in partners," asked Kiba with Akamaru taking a nap in his hood.

Chouji swallowed his potato chips and said, "I guess so." There was a loud rustle of a chip bag as Chouji reached his hands into the bag for another chip.

Hinata gulped. Its now or never. She nudged Naruto lightly, "N-naruto-kun. D-d-do you want to g-go skiing together?" she asked nervously, wanting to hear his answer, yet she knew she'd be regretting her words if he said no.

Naruto scratched his head and mumbled something that sounded like, "Ehh... I was thinking of going with Sakura-chan, but it doesn't really matter. Sakura-chan probably wouldn't want to be my partner anyways, so sure!"

Hinata's face brightened, "Good!" But her face fell slightly, "Umm... N-naruto-kun. Do you know h-how to ski...?"

"Nah. Never been skiing," Naruto said. "Never bothered, seems kind of difficult to ski on two thing metal sticks."

"Oh…"Hinata said softly. Hinata turned her headsideways and bit her lip. She had never been skiing either.

* * *

Meanwhile... 

Sakura and Ino were looking at Sasuke, who still had their back towards them. They tried not to look too hopeful or eager. "Sasuke-kun," called Ino. "You wanna be partners?" she asked him suggestively. Her hands were tucked warmly into her coat pockets. She wasn't used to all this cold weather.

Sasuke didn't even bother to turn around as they heard him say monotonously, "No." It wasn't unsual, you could say that it was more expected then anything else. Ino looked slightlyalarmed.

"Well, if you don't wan to go with me, who will you go with?" she said pointingly.

Kiba, who was indeed litsening into their conversation, piped in, "I can go with Sasuke, since I don't have a partner anyways. Is that okay?"

"Kiba! You're going with Kiba!" shrieked Ino loudly, shattering Sakura's eardrum, yet again.

There was a flury of annoyance written over Kiba's face. "Is there something wrong with me?" he asked, annoyed.

"No, not really," muttered Ino, dissapointment was clearly in her voice. Ino scanned her eyes quickly, "Shikamaru!" she screeched. Seeing how annoyed he was, she lowered her voice, "You wannna be partners?"

"How troublesome-" he began. But was hit on the head by Ino, "Are you calling me troublesome, Shikamaru_-kun"_ Shikamaru shivered at the way she addedthe 'kun' suffix. Heshook his head to clear the little stars circling his head, "I was going to say yes, but--"

"I really need a partner though," whined Ino. She looked at him eargerly. "Please?"

"Fine then," The last thing Shikamaru needed was another punch in the head. Although those little stars were kinda cool.

Sakura walked over to Naruto. Naruto grinned widely, "I'm going skiing with Hinata-chan," Naruto said happily. "But I don't know how to ski," his face fell slightly.

"Oh," Sakura said quietly.

She heard someone's footsteps running behind her. Then slowing down. She turned around and faced Rock Lee.

"Sakura-chan! Partners?" asked a boy with a abnormal shiny bowl-head bob.

Sakura hid her grimace. She really should have been nicer to Lee in the past. "Sure," she shrugged. She needed to find a partner at one point or the other.

"Sure," Sakura replied, smiling.

Rock Lee's eyes shone happily. Sakura looked over at him, bewildered. She always knew that Lee was a bit... odd.

* * *

It turned out that Neji was partners with Ten ten. He looked over at Ten ten apprehensively. She wouldn't be the best partner, but atleast he wouldn't be stuck with Naruto. 

They impatietly waited in the incredibly long line. The air was still icy cold, there wasn't an improvement from the morning.

Chouji said, "I'm hungry."

"Lets go get hot chocolate for everyone then!" said Naruto in a bored tone as he fiddled with his fingers. "I'll go, anyone else want to come?"

"I'll come," muffled Chouji as he stuck the empty chip bag into his pocket.

Kiba glanced up, "Sure, I'll come as well."

* * *

"Here's your hot chocolate Hinata-chan!" said Naruto happily as he handed the hot chocolate to the lavender-eyed girl.

Hinata smiled. "T-t-thank you N-naruto-kun," she said apprehensively.

"No problem," Naruto said sincerely, smiling his foxy grin.

Everyone was sitting on the snow sipping their hot chocolate. A loud sigh was heard. "Almost there now. Should only take about five minutes," said Shikamaru. He finished off with his infamous quote "How troublesome."

Finally, they got their ski shoes, skis, and ski poles sorted out. This sure turned out to be a troublesome day. At least things would improve from now on.

"Um..." said Sakura, "How do the ski shoes connect to the skis?"

"Eh... I think you slip it on," said Kiba.

Shikamaru had that look on his face when he knew the answer, but wanted to give someone else a change to answer.

While everyone else was discussing how to attach the ski shoes to the skis itself, Shikamaru quickly attached the skis shoes to the skis.

Shikamaru skied over to Ino.

"Hurry up, will you?"

"I can't put on my skis!" Ino snapped.

Shikamaru sighed and helped her put on the skis. When they were set to go. The skied awkwardly away.

Leaving the rest of the chuunins dumbfounded.

* * *

A/N: Done! Done the chapter I mean, not the fic! I never updated so fast in my life! I'm so proud! Haha, and the chapter is fairly long too! Please leave a review if you have the time.(I tend to update faster, hint hint) I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading and a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

Thanks again to my beta, evil-muffins.


	4. Chapter four

Dreams Are Dreams  
Chapter IV  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I'm sorry I took so long! But I saved chapter four on a floppy and when I came to write it again, I saw it there and I clicked it... then I went somewhere and came back and it was gone... 3/4 done too ( Thank you everyone for the reviews! I really appreciate it!)

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The chuunins sat on the powder white snow with confused and annoyed looks on their faces. Naruto opened his mouth to speak when a huge wave of snow sprayed over the chuunins and into Naruto's opened mouth.

Naruto spat the snow out angry. He looked up and saw his sensei, Kakashi. But before he could complain, Kakashi spoke, "Hello my hopeless ninja-wannabes!" said Kakashi happily.

Kakashi looked around and saw ten angry faces directed to him; two giving him death glares.

'_What the hell, we are ninjas,' _thought Ino, frustrated at Kakashi's stupid comment.

Naruto again opened his mouth, this time; he got the chance to speak, "Oi Kakashi-sensei! What was that for?"

Kakashi had an innocent look on his face, "What was what for?" Kakashi's grin was hidden underneath his mask as he watched the twelve's baffled expressions.

Ino ignored his last comment, "How does this," she motioned to her ski, "And this," she then motioned towards her ski shoes, "Attach together?"

Kakashi forged confusion on his face. "I honestly do not know," he lied with a shrug. Kakashi looked down at his watch, "Well, I best be going now." Kakashi snowboarded away, leaving the twelve exasperated.

It was a good fifteen minutes before they figured it out.

Ino and Shikamaru slowly edged closer to the ski lift. Shikamaru, being the 'genius' that he was, immediately noticed that the ski lifts were extremely small for two people. '_I like my head un-dented. I should just not say anything.'_

Shikamaru sat on the wooden bench awkwardly next to Ino. It was rather tight there.

"Move over a bit," said Ino with a grin. She gave Shikamaru and small playful nudge, by the _small _playful nudged turned out into a **not** so playful nudge.

Ino watched Shikamaru lost his balance and as he began to fall off the ski fall. Ino saw Shikamaru land with a soft thump on the snow. The snow sprayed everywhere.

Her eyes widened. Ino carefully jumped off the ski lift and joined Shikamaru on the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked in alarm, her eyes wide and scared.

Shikamaru still laid there. His eyes were opened looking at the dark clouds.

'_The clouds sure are pretty today. It may be dark and cloudy, but the clouds are still pretty,' _thought Shikamaru happily.

Ino said sharply, "Answer me!"

Shikamaru slowly sat up, rubbing the sore spot on his back and spoke, "Look, the ski lift is obviously only for one person. You just had to drag me along."

Before she could defend herself, a loud voice interrupted the two of them.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Are you alright!" asked the blond hair ninja; closely followed by Hinata.

Hinata said shyly, "W-we could see a figure fall from the ski lift. But we didn't know who it was; the trees were in the way..."

Naruto grinned his fox-like way and said, "Well, now we know!" he laughed, "How do you fall off a ski lift anyways?"

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto with an annoyed look on his face, "Sheesh, can anyone be more annoying than you?"

Naruto pretended to look offended and said, "Why would you say such a thing? I'm not annoying!" Then he broke out into a wide smile, "Just kidding! I know I'm annoying! It's the number one rule to be me, Naruto."

Shikamaru sighed, "You're so troublesome."

Sometime in the afternoon-

After everyone had their "fun" skiing, they all met back in the lodge.

Sakura was sitting in the living room along with the other chuunins. She was listening to Ino talk, although she wasn't really listening. Sakura caught a few words of what Ino was saying, "There's-dance-at-don't-dates-." Sakura's jade eyes got wider. '_A dance? I doubt that he would want to come along.'_

_'Hell yeah,' _laughed Inner Sakura.

Sakura looked around at the group of chuunins. Finding that she wasn't the only one genuinely interested. Tenten also looked excited and Hinata's pearl coloured eyes shone more brightly than usual. The boys (most of them) looked mildly interested.

"When is it?"

Ino rolled her eyes and directed her gaze to Sakura. "Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying for the oh-" She looked at her watch; "last five minutes?"

Sakura glared at Ino, "Just answer me Ino-pig!"

Ino glared back at Sakura but answered her question anyways, "The dance will be held tonight at a lodge nearby, but we won't be able to pick dates. It'll be like a random draw thingy. It's kind of odd, but I suppose that it'll be fun to come along anyway."

Sakura looked down and bit her lip.

"So soon, I better get ready then."

Tenten said, "I'm glad my mom made me bring a nice dress."

So the four girls walked up the stairs to their rooms.

Sakura pulled out her suitcase and reached for a slightly crumpled long and flowing dark red dress.

Sakura turned to face Ino, "I'm glad that we all decided to bring a dress even though we didn't think that we would need it."

Ino looked at her and said, "I'm just glad that you clamed down."

Sakura laughed and agreed with her, "Ino, do you have an ironer with you?"

She heard Ino's muffled reply, "Of course, it's in the drawer."

She wanted to make an effort for tonight. Who cares if she wouldn't be with Sasuke? It wasn't like he would agree to go with her anyway. However, he did agree to come along with all of them. She put down the iron and paused for a moment. She could always try to blow him away.

There was a few raps on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Ino.

Sakura heard the faint reply of Tenten and Hinata.

"Oh," began Ino. "It's unlocked!"

The door swung open and Ten ten walked in, holding a long black dress. She was followed by Hinata who was holding a white dress.

"Ino! Do you have an ironer?" asked Tenten.

"Hah, that's what Sakura just asked me. Yes, I have one. You can use it after Sakura's done."

After all the girls were ready, they walked downstairs to meet the guys. They weren't going as dates but they decided that they would at least walk to the dance together.

Sasuke was impatiently waiting for them to come down. He didn't really want to go. But if everyone else were going, he would go to.

Sasuke gave a glare at the blank wall ahead of him. It wasn't like he wanted to go along anyway, but he mind as well go if everyone else would be going.

When he saw Sakura walked down the stairs. He was shocked. After all these years, he hadn't really noticed how much Sakura had grown. She was wearing a long dark red flowing dress and her soft pink hair was piled on top of her head with wavy strands falling down, gently framing her near-flawless face.

Sakura caught his eye and smiled. Sasuke grumbled and averted his gaze.

'_God, he's hot...' _Sakura thought with a dreamy smile but wiped it off her face quickly.

"We better get going now!" said Ino, breaking Sakura's reverie. "It'll be starting any moment now!"

They walked down a snowy trail that headed the lodge where the dance would be held.

When the reached the place, it was oddly silent, the music wasn't even on. The room was dark with some colourful flashing loud lights and streamers that hung from the ceiling, decorating the normally bland white walls.

She saw a pretty girl with dark hair who was already talking to a fairly large group of people. They walked closer to hear what she was saying.

"Alright, so, it'll be a draw for all of you who don't know. I'll hand out slips of paper and you'll have to write you names on it and I'll put it in a hat and draw out the dates!" said the dark-haired girl excitedly. She had a perky voice that made it hard to listen to.

Sakura accepted and slip of paper from the girl and wrote her name on it.

After the girl received all the slips. She put them in a jar and mixed the papers around.

The girl called out some pairs that she didn't know. She waited until she heard Tenten's named called.

"-and Tenten will be with Neji,"

_'Tenten's lucky! She at least got someone from Konoha! I doubt the rest of us won't be so lucky.'_

Sakura was with a pretty good looking guy. He wasn't really comparable to the Uchiha himself though.

Sasuke on the other hand was with the dark-hair girl that was holding the dance. Sakura could hear her talk to Sasuke. "Ohmigosh! You're Sasuke? I'm so lucky. Has anyone told you that you're _really _good looking?"

From across the room, Sakura could see the girl cling to Sasuke's arm. She could already see that Sasuke strongly disliked his date.

Sakura turned around to face her date and smiled. He was even hotter up close…

A/N Sorry that I took so long! I had a huge exam, so I couldn't find much time to write. Thanks to my beta, evil-mittens for ideas and thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter five

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter five  
by swt-angel-babi3

A/N: I'm very sorry that this chapter took so long! Thanks for reading and big thanks to those who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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Chapter five, at the dance!

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder, trying to _get away _from his extremely annoying 'date.' No matter where he went, his 'date' would surely be right behind him. The girl _would have been _pretty, except her lips. Her FISH lips.

Sasuke walked to the refreshments table to pour himself some of the punch. Sasuke looked at the punch before drinking it, a thought ran through his head. What if someone spiked it? He shrugged and decided to take a sip anyways. He walked back to one of the small squashy couches and sat down. After a couple of moments, someone else sat down beside him. Without having to look up, he immediately knew that it was the annoying girl.

Sasuke turned his head towards the annoying girl,

"Will you just go away?" Sasuke asked sharply, his onyx eyes flashed in the dark room.

"But we're dates!" The blonde-haired girl protested.

Sasuke gave her a glare. He _knew_ that they were 'dates'. He just didn't want to be around her. The whole idea of going to the dance was stupid. It was Sakura and Ino who wanted to go, they managed to somehow drag everyone else along as well.

Sasuke looked past the annoying girl and saw Sakura dancing with a guy he didn't know. He felt a funny feeling in his stomach, but he pushed the feeling out of his stomach and sat moodily on the couch.

* * *

It had been such a long time since Sakura had gone dancing. She had to admit that she was having a good time, but only if she could dance with Sasuke. Sakura glanced behind herself. She could see Sasuke grumpily sitting on the couch with his date sitting beside him. It seemed to her that his date was trying to convince him to dance with her. Sakura grinned; she could tell by the look on Sasuke's face that there would be no way he would allow the girl to dance with him. After her thought, her face went suddenly cold; his voice echoed in her mind, '_You're annoying.'_

* * *

Naruto walked around the rooms several times, looking for his date, whose name was Asaka. _I hope she's pretty! _Naruto felt a hard tap on his back. He turned around to face an average looking girl, but her face looked rather splotchy... 

The girl took a staggered step forward. '_Is she drunk!' _Naruto took a step away from her as the girl slowly and gauchely took several steps toward him.

The girl began to speak, "AreyoooNaroootoo? Cuuuz ifyooh aarre, imyoourr daatttte," the girl slurred and she gave him a slap on the back. "Letssbegudfrieendsss."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, '_She must really be drunk, judging by the way she walks and talk. So much for a pretty date'…_(background: Naruto sitting on the floor looking very gloomy) The girl didn't wait for Naruto to answer. Her grubby fingers grabbed Naruto's thin ones; and began to pull him towards the dance floor.

"NOOOOO! I don't want to dance with you!"Naruto cried out loudly,causing a few people to glance and stare at the awkward pair.

If the girl heard what Naruto had said, she didn't seem to show it. Naruto tried to pull away from the girl, but her tight grip prevented him from getting away._ 'Owww! KUSO! Why does she have to be so strong? Could she be secretly working out? Gross,' _Naruto shuddered, _'Bad thoughts.'_

_'Kuso! How can I get away from this drunk girl! I could use my charka… but… I'd probably would injure her if I did, and I don't want that! Then I'd have to help her… but all I want is to GET AWAY FROM HER! Kuso, KUSO!' _Before he could think of a way to get rid of the girl, the girl interrupted him.

"Heeey! Leetsdancee allreadyyyyy!" exclaimed the girl.

Naruto bit his lower lip. He needed her to be distracted! As he was pretending to tie his shoe laces while the girl was dancing to the jumpy music, not keeping beat and losing her balance a fair few times, Naruto thought of an idea. He knew it was a stupid idea. But a drunk girl would surely fall for it.

"Look!" shouted Naruto.

When the girl turned her head sideways and loosened her grip, Naruto got the chance to run away from the girl. He dashed past Sakura who was dancing with her date, Sasuke and an annoying looking girl, and a few more people he knew and ran out the door into the dark night.

* * *

Hinata walked up to her date who was pretty good looking. As soon as she introduced herself, he began to talk animatedly as if they were old friends. Her date definitely had lots of what she was lacking, self esteem. The guy- his name was Shinaki, was talking non-stop. Hinata began to wonder if he would every stop talking. 

"Oi! Hinata is it? Would you like to dance?" asked Shinaki confidently.

Hinata glanced at his warm eyes. He was kinda cute... althought she couldn't say that he was cuter than Naruto. Hinata blushed at the thought of his name. "Umm.. sure," answered Hinata timidly.

They walked up to the dance floor. Hinata's eyes met a pretty girl's eye. The girl averted her gaze. "Would you like to dance?" she asked Shinaki innocently

Hinata's date turned around to face her, "You don't mind do you?" he asked sincerly.

"Ano... no, it's ok."

"Well then! It's settled! Thanks Hinata," replied Shinaki happily. Hinata watched Shinaki and the girl dissapear into the throng of dancers.

Hinata looked around nervously, feeling slightly lost. What could she do? She couldn't 'hang out' with the other leaf nins, they already had dates! Hinata looked around the large bland room and pondered on what she should do. At last, she decided to escape outside, to count the many stars in the night.

* * *

The room was dimly lit, but he could still see Sakura dance with her date. Sasuke hasn't seen Sakura so happy in such a long time. Sasuke felt his stomach churning inside. '_This feeling… I haven't felt it since-since okaasan and otousan died… But why? It can't be her can it? If so, why does she affect me the way she does? Kuso. So many questions that I don't have answers for.' _Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted _again _by the annoying girl; his date. 

"Please Sasuke! Just one dance? Pretty please?" begged fish lips.

Sasuke gave the girl a glare and thankfully she backed off.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on top of a snow-covered roof. It was so peaceful and quiet, maybe too quiet. Naruto looked up at the many stars and began to gingerly count them. '_Wow! You can see so much more stars here than in Konoha! Must be because I'm on a mountain tonight,' _Naruto's reveries were broken up when he saw a lone small figure walk out of the lodge where the dance was held. Naruto smiled, he seemed to not be the only one who left. The small shadowwas walking towards him. As the figure got closer, he realized that it was Hinata-chan. 

"Ne! Hinata-chan! Over here!" shouted Naruto excitedly. He could see Hinata blush although they were quite far from each other.

"N-n-naruto-kun! Why are y-you here?" asked Hinata nervously.

"Oh... well, my date was very drunk, well I think she was drunk, I'm not sure, so I came out here to get away from her."

Hinata stared at Naruto questionably. She had rarely seen Naruto so serious.

"So! What about you? Why are you out here?" asked Naruto happily.

Hinata was happy to see that Naruto was more like himself, "Well, my date got asked to dance with another girl..."

"It's amazing that we're both here alone eh?" asked Naruto.

_Maybe fate brought them together._

Hinata gave a soft laugh, "Yah, I c-came here to count the stars."

Naruto's eyes got larger. "That was what I was_ just_ doing!"

"Really?" It was a statement, not an answer. It was then that Naruto felt connected at her. He often saw Hinata hang around the ramen bar. Maybe, she too liked ramen.

Naruto couldn't explain the feeling that he felt inside his chest. It was something he never felt before. Was it love? He didn't know. But his heart loved Sakura-chan... or did it?

* * *

A/N: I'm finally finished with this chapter! Hehe. Please review! I would appreciate it! And thanks to my beta reader, evil-mittens

**evil-mittens**: Here's the next chapter, that you've been annoying me to update! Well… I annoy you for your fic too… Hehe  
**Koori no tenshi**: Thanks! Yah I know it's sad that Sakura is paired off with this guy and Sasuke's with this annoying girl.  
**Hpbgmeyp**: Thanks!  
**Wormkaizer**: I hope the Naruto and Hinata scenes in this chapter satisfied you! )  
**AhnigurL**: Thanks for the suggestions!  
**Purim**: I didn't really update soon as you asked, but here's the next chapter!  
**Xero****-ghost**: Thanks! Here's the next chapter!  
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**oOoshortayoOo**: Thanks! Here's the next chapter!  
**Emir**: Thanks!  
**RurouniGochan**: LOL! I feel sorry for Shika's partner too!  
**Nikki-14angel**: Here's the next chapter!  
**Linu**: Sasuke and Sakura will be together later in the fic.  
**Millie-chan**: Thanks.  
**Joahhana**: Thanks, here's the next chapter!

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AN: Thanks for all the reviews and for reading!  



	6. Chapter six

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter VI  
By swt-angel-babi3

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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* * *

At the dance...

The lights in the sitting area were dimmed but the dance floor was alive with obscure lights. Shikamaru was sitting on one of the many ugly, tortured green couches.

"Shikamaru! May we please just have _one _dance? I heard you were lazy, but one dance won't kill you, I promise!" cried out Shikamaru's frantic date.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and leisurely turned his head and opened his mouth, "No," Shikamaru sighed and glanced up at the bland ceiling. After a few moments of silence, well as silent as a dance can be. Shikamaru had a thought of maybe dancing with…Ino. '_But then… Ino would certainly not_ _dance with me; she's too involved with that Sasuke,' _A nasty voice in his head reminded him, '_I remember you saying that women were troublesome. If they were so troublesome, why would you want to dance with Ino? Do you like her? Huh? Do you?' _

"Shut up baka, if I ever hear your voice again, I'll personally get someone to kill you," Shikamaru hissed to the voice in his head, not realizing that he had just spoken out loud. It wasn't until he observed the voice of his date.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Shikamaru's date screeched.

Shikamaru sighed, things were so troublesome, "I wasn't talking to you-"

But Shikamaru wasn't able to conclude his sentence before his dates fired back an answer.

"How can you not be talking to me? I'm the only one here," she hissed. His date stood up and strode angrily out of the room.

Shikamaru ruffled his black hair._ 'She didn't take that very well, damn it, now I'm stuck by myself in this screwed up dance.._

* * *

After his name was called along with his date's, Rock Lee glanced over to his date hopefully. His jaw dropped as his eyes landed ona pretty brunette with her hair put up gracefully. She wore a dark-avocado coloured dress. '_She's so pretty! Almost as beautiful as Sakura-chan. Not as beautiful, for no one is more beautiful than Sakura-chan. No one,' _thought Lee proudly. 

Rock Lee walked up to his date. He flashed her a bright smile. It was a nice smile, but not as nice as Gai-sensei in his opinion, but good enough. Although it was a dance, Rock Lee was still in his usual green and orange spandex outfit. '_Damn, I'm lucky. Such a pretty girl!' _

Rock Lee blew a heart to his date. His date dodged it. The heart fluttered above his date's head before it stuck onto the white wall with a satisfying splooootch sound.

Lee's date's eye twitched, "What the hell are you doing! Fuzzy e-eyebrows, kowai. Out of all the people here, you've got to be the most hideous," spat his date.

Rock Lee's smile started to fade, slowly turning into a frown. '_I don't think she likes me very much…'_

"Leave me alone, onegai!" pleaded his date.

A pause, "Hai," answered Rock Lee sadly.

"Arigatou," muttered his date quickly and left the room quickly, out the frayed wooden door.

* * *

Ten Ten smiled when her name was called along with Neji's. '_Neji and me are the only one's from everyone from Konoha who were paired with someone from Konoha! I guess I can consider myself as lucky. But even luckier that I'm paired up with… NEJI! He's so cute especially when he's angry…' she could feel her cheeks twinge rose._

After all the names were called, Ten Ten and Neji made their way to one of the squishy ugly green couches.

"Neji! Do you wanna dance?" asked Ten Ten happily.

* * *

_Kuso, she wants us to dance? I've never danced with a girl yet, actually, I don't think I ever danced before. What happens if I screw up! What happens if I step on her toe? What happens if I break her toe? Kuso. I just won't say anything then… hopefully she'll take it as a 'no,' If I said no, wait I can't say 'no,"...not to Ten ten. Everyone knows what Ten ten is like when she gets mad, She might throw her kunais at me. She probably have a whole bunch hidden in that pretty dress of hers. She looks so pretty when she's mad though. She's always pretty… WAIT! WHAT AM I SAYING! Uh oh… she's looking at me… uhh… _

"…"

* * *

_'Damnit! Why won't he say anything! Should I pretend that he meant yes? Or no? Shit. Okay… Eennie meenie mi- _The voice in her head scolded her, _than you only get a fifty percent chance! You know you want to dance with him! So go!'_

"Okay then, Neji! Let's dance!" exclaimed Ten Ten nervously, immediately realizing that her hand was shaking.

* * *

_'Shit! She's suppose take it as a no!'_

Neji and Ten Ten got of the squishy couches and slowly walked to the dance floor. Neji felt a warm hand take his as they were walking. He felt his cheeks go warm. He glanced down and realized that it was Ten Ten's hand.

Neji realized that the song playing was a slow song. When they found a nice spot on the dance floor, Neji realized something; he didn't know where to put his hands. He wasn't paying much to the throng of dancers before, and now he didn't know. Neji decided to go with his guts. Neji lifted his hands and put them around Ten Ten's Neck.

Ten Ten immediately backed away. Which forced Neji to let go.

"I guess you don't know how to dance Neji," sighed Ten Ten

He just looked at her stonily with his eyes wide open._  
_

"Here, I'll teach you then." Said Ten Ten to slice the silence that was hanging heavily in the air between them. Ten Ten gently guided Neji's hand to around her waist. She realized the uncomfortable look on Neji's face.

"Why don't we dance another time?" asked Ten Ten.

Neji gave a nod, his cheeks still red, and they strode back to their spot on the couch.

* * *

Hinata was still with Naruto, sitting on top of the snow-plastered roof. It had been long ago since they gave up on counting the million sparkly stars that littered the dark sky. Hinata watched Naruto lie down on the snow, with a thoughtful look on his face. She saw a glimpse of sadness that was usually covered by his mask of happiness.

"It's unusual how things turn out in the end. I always thought, when I was young that I would never find friends, real friends. When I was ten, I found out what real friendship was like. Sakura, Sasuke, you, and Kakashi, all became my friends, my true friends. Well… the old man at the ramen stand too. Well, I talked a lot! Lets make snow angels!" said Naruto and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Naruto laughed as he got off the snow angel and brushed the snow off his orange jacket. (It's not the one he usually wears, a nicer one . It is a dance after all)

"I screwed up on the wings!" said Naruto with laughter.

Hinata smiled and reached over to brush the powdery snow off his spiky hair.

"Thanks," he said and smiled as she turned tomato-red.

* * *

Sakura and her date Aniro walked back to one of the couches after a few exhausting and nice dances.

Sakura smiled at Aniro, "Thanks so much for the dances, Aniro-kun. I had a great time."

"Me too," answered Aniro. "Sakura-chan… I really like you. I would appreciate it if you want to go out another time. Just the two of us. Here, I'll give you my number."

Aniro took one of the slips of scrap paper on the coffee table and wrote his number on it.

"Here." Said Aniro, as he gracefully handed her the slip of white rumpled paper.

Sakura looked at the number, and repeated to herself 123-4567

Sakura smiled, again, "Thanks Aniro-kun." I'd love to go out with you another time."

Immediately after she said that, she felt her felt a weird feeling in her stomach.

Sakura couldn't forget about Sasuk, '_Sasuke… what's the point of chasing him? I've been chasing after him for nine years. Nine years wasted on one guy. And he has never acknowledged me. Not once. The only time he acknowledged me was at our first chuunin exam. Yet he didn't even really acknowledge me. He acknowledged tean seven… Why should I chase him now?' _

Sakura pressed the thoughts of Sasuke out of her mind.

"Is something troubling you?"

Sakura looked startled. She soon realized that it was Aniro who was talking.

"No, nothing's troubling me," Sakura answered back innocently with a false smile.

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting grumpily on the couch with his eyes closed. He felt a sudden short jab in his ribs. His eyes quickly shot open.

"Ino…"

Ino looked at Shikamaru with her crystal-clear blue eyes.

"Shikamaru-kun!" exclaimed Ino, her eyes sparkling, "Well, you're probably wondering why I'm not with my date," There was a gleam in Ino's eyes. Ino dropped her voice to a whisper and said, "He's even _uglier_ that Rock Lee! Unbelievable eh? I just _had _to get away from him! I hope he can't see me!"

"So why bother coming to me? Why not just run of to Sasuke-_kun?_" asked Shikamaru. He instantly regretted saying that. _'If, if I like Ino-chan, why I am being so mean to her? Constantly?'_

Shikamaru's eyes twitched as he expected Ino to clobber him, as the many times he did before. But surprisingly enough, she didn't. He caught the look of hurt that was evident in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Ino," muttered Shikamaru. This was so troublesome.

Ino waved her hand away, "Doesn't matter anyways," she paused, "I've given up on Sasuke. I was only annoying him the other day when I wanted to be his partner. Don't want him to think that I'm giving up that easily."

Shikamaru realized thatshe ommited the 'kun' suffix. He felt the weightson his chest lift, and suddenly, the night didn't seem as bad as before.

Ino laughed happily, in an evil way, "Anyways, I'll leave it to Sakura-chan to get Sasuke. It's not like he's ever going to look her way. He never has before. Why should it change now?"

* * *

Thanks to:

**wun-liddo-babi**: Your're lying again! That is all that you own!s  
**oOoshortayoOo**: Thanks for reviewing every chapter! .  
**Cookie6:** Thanks! I hope it's ok that I used your suggestion…  
**Cutiekat**: Thanks! I try to update soon! But I suppose I don't... . Well here's the next chapt!  
**Narlover:** Thanks! I'll try to update faster! Here's the next chapt!  
**Blitz-kun**: Thanks, yah the characters are slightly OOC, I'm gonna re-write some of the chapters.  
**Nyrgoalie**: Thanks for the criticism; it helps me write the fic. I agree with you though… the quality of the fic isn't the best. It's probably because I'm lazy. .  
**Shimokawa-mika**: Shika's partner wasn't in the last five chapters. But he's here now! Jealousy is a great thing D  
**Millie-chan**: Yup! I think the 'ships are shaping up even more in this chapter!  
**Magicians of the yami**: Thanks! Here's the next chapter!  
**Nightmares of death**: I didn't update soon! XD sorry! Here's the next chapter though!  
**Deity of death1**: Thanks! Yah, Sakura and Sasuke will be together in the end. Doesn't seem like it though!  
**Joekool**: yep! There will be shika/ino! Lots of shika/ino in this chapter actually! Oh… were you really singing in the snow? LOL

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! The writing quality of the first few chapters are really bad, so I'm thinking of reposting it. I'm actuallyreally surprise I didn't get flamed a lot.

I know it sounds stupid/unbelievale that Neji didn't know where to put his hands, but I actually got inspired by my friend and the guy she was dancing with. It was really funny at the time. It's one of those stupid things that I can't forget. Haha.


	7. Chapter seven

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter seven  
By cocoa-latte

AN: Here's the next chapter! I would like to thank everyone for reading and a huge thanks to those who reviewed!

* * *

The rambunctious night of the dance was coming to a slow end. Yet, the stars still twinkled as brightly as they started. Up high, in the mountains, was a lodge, where a CD player was playing its last song before retiring for the night. 

A certain blond and an ebony-haired girl were sitting on top of the snow-covered roof in brief silence. The many stars were shining brightly in the clear cold night, but they had given up on counting stars long ago. Naruto rubbed his eyes and looked down at his rare watch that was settled on his left wrist. Today was a special day, after all. Naruto looked up at Hinata.

"We should start to head back," Naruto started, "The dance should be over soon and we should head back before the others begin to worry."

"Hai," replied Hinata, her voice quiet.

Hinata slowly got up, followed by Naruto. They jumped off the snowy roof and landed on the trail that would lead them back to the lodge. They walked silently back; the only sound they made was the crunching of the snow beneath their feet. In the distance, faint pounding music could be heard, very likely coming from the dance.

"Naruto," Hinata began, but stopped short when the saw a black and white mammal scurry around the trail. It stopped directly in front of them. Its beady eyes eyed them.

"It kind of looks like a skunk, don't you agree?" he asked casually.

"W-well, it doesn't really look like a skunk. S-skunks hibernate in the winter. I think."

Naruto had a crooked grin on his face. "Oi, Mr. Skunk-thingy. I don't care what you are, but could you please move out of the way so we can go by?" Before Hinata could hush the clueless shinobi, the skunk raised its tail and sprayed both Naruto and Hinata with a foul odour.

Naruto felt his eyes burn. "My eyes!" he exclaimed loudly. His hands immediately clasped to his eyes. Hinata followed his suite.

Hinata didn't say anything for a while. "Naruto," she began.

Naruto gulped, when hearing Hinata say his name with the usual "kun" suffix. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan!" he apologized fretfully. "Forgive me, please? I honestly didn't mean to make the skunk mad."

Hinata wanted to not forgive him. But looking at his face made her forgive him. How could anyone be mad at someone so adorable? Hinata smiled at Naruto.

Hinata looked down, not really wanting to forgive him. The odour of the skunk was giving her a headache. She glanced up at him quickly, gosh, he looked adorable. She gave him a weak smile. She couldn't resist. "Forgiven," she said uncertainly.

"Arigatou, Hinata-chan! Now we just have to go back to the lodge and take a nice long shower with lots of pink bubbly soap!" Naruto replied happily.

"I-I don't think it just comes off with a shower. In fact, w-we'll probably have to bathe in tomato juice, in order for the smell to wear off…" she trailed off.

Naruto stopped in his tracks. "You mean we have to go to a store and buy cans and cans of _tomato juice_?" he asked, exasperated.

"I don't think so," said Hinata, "The others will probably get the tomato juice for us. A-at least I hope they will."

"Let's hurry back then!" he said, while taking large steps to the lodge. Hinata agreed silently.

Finally, after a twenty-minute walk back to the lodge, Naruto and Hinata arrived at the front steps of the house.

"I don't have my keys with me," Naruto announced with a small shrug. He looked at Hinata.

She bit her lip, "S-sorry, I didn't bring my keys along either."

"Ah, it's okay. We'll just have to knock them."

Hinata nodded and reached forward and knocked heavily on the thick wooden door. After a couple seconds of waiting, the worn gold doorknob began to turn. Tenten stood there holding on to the worn doorknob with Neji standing behind her.

"Finally!" Said Naruto. "Took you long enough! Why w-" Naruto stopped short as he saw Tenten take a large sniff of the skunk odour and took a few steps back before grabbing the doorknob and quickly shutting it into their faces.

Neji opened the door slightly and gave a glare at them, when he saw the two of them together.

"Come back when you buy tomato juice."

"Okay?" Agreed Naruto blankly.

Hinata gave a sigh. "I-I can't believe that they just told us to leave."

They began walking back down the path that lead to a nearby supermarket.

"How far will it take to get there?"

"Thirty minutes, I think. We might, well, we probably will stink up the entire store just going there," she said in her usual quiet voice.

"Who cares? Naruto retorted, "As long as I'm skunk-free, then I don't care."

Naruto opened the dirty glass door politely, allowing Hinata in first before he himself went in. The man behind the counter wrinkled his nose in disgust. Naruto and Hinata saw him reach into the drawer, pulling out a clothespin and then plugging it on his nose.

"Why do you think he would keep a clothespin in his drawer?" Naruto asked, eyeing the man.

"I don't really want to know."

Naruto shrugged and took one of the trolley carts located at the front of the show. "Aisle eight," he murmured to himself. He pushed the cart, noticing that it was rather hard to control. He turned the cart around the corner, bumping into a few bottles and cans, knocking them down.

Hinata was already there with a few cans of tomato juice in her arms. She sighed. "H-here, you pick up the things you knocked down and I'll load the cart."

He nodded while grimacing. Things weren't going his way today. Naruto picked up the bottles and cans and hastily put them back onto the shelf.

Hinata was already finished by the time Naruto was done. "You can steer the shopping cart, if you would like," Naruto said.

"Alright," she replied.

"I'll pay Hinata-chan, it's my fault that we smell," Naruto dejectedly. The cashier was waiting impatiently for Naruto and Hinata to finish talking. Naruto stuck his hand into his jacket pocket. Nothing. Pant pocket. Nothing. He searched around a few more times. "I don't have my kawaii frog wallet with me, Hinata-chan. I think I left it back in my room."

Hinata blinked. "I have some money with me, but not enough…" she trailed off.

The cashier groaned. "Look, it doesn't matter anymore. I don't really care, so it's on the house. Take more tomato juice if you want. Just _leave._" said the plugged-nose man hysterically.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Are you serious? Would you mind if I took some ramen as well?"

"Naruto!" Hinata hissed, giving a small kick in the shins. She took out her wallet and dumped the remaining contents out. "Sorry, but it probably won't cover the cost of everything, but…"

The man waved her off.

"Thanks," they chorused. The picked up the white plastic bags before speeding back outside.

Hinata and Naruto had reached the lodge. In front of the door lay a large bin, two towels and some of Hinata and Naruto's extra clothes, along with a note.

_Hinata and Naruto, _

_Go to the woods and take a bath in the tomato juice before you step a foot into the house, if not, don't give a damn thought of coming back in here. We know you don't have your keys. _

_Sincerely, everyone_

Naruto looked at Hinata with a twinge of pink on his cheek. "You know this means that we have to take a bath in the WOODS. With out any walls! Or anything to cover us," finished Naruto, his cheeks more red than before. He glanced at Hinata, whose cheeks were burning.

Hinata didn't say anything, but she picked up the overly large bin and motioned Naruto to help her carry the other side. They trudged through the woods, until they were in the heart of the forest.

Hinata felt another blush creep up her cheek. "S-so should we just… fill the bin up with the tomato juice first, then we take turns taking baths."

Naruto nodded and they silently filled the bin up with tomato juice, which took a short amount of time, considering the size of the bin. Naruto gave Hinata a sheepish grin. "I suppose you wanna go first?" asked Naruto as he looked down at his feet.

Hinata had seldom seen Naruto look so shy. "Sure," She replied happily. She loved the fact that she could be more open around him.

The thought of being smell-free was bliss. She waited until Naruto was out of sight before slipping into the tomato-juice-filled bin, with her smelly clothes on. She reached to the bottom of the enormous bin and found a brush to scrub with. After another twenty minutes in the tomato-juice. She stepped out and wrapped the white fluffy towel, staining it temporarily a watery-red colour from the tomato juice. She'd take another shower later on. She made sure that the towel was fully covering her body as she fished out her own fresh, clean clothes from the neat pile of clothes.

Naruto was waiting at the edge of the woods impatiently. At this time, Hinata would already be smell-free, and he'd be the only stinky one. He could here faint footsteps, hitting the hard snow from a distance. Naruto stood and brushed the snow off his pants.

"You're turn!" said Hinata smiling as she continued to dry her hair.

Naruto leapt up and dashed to the heart of the forest where the tomato juice was. Naruto jumped into the bin, trying to make as little splash as possible. But no avail, as some of the tomato juice spilled down the sides. Naruto found a brush to scrub himself with. After twenty minutes of scrubbing, Naruto wrapped the white fluffy towel around himself, and carefully got changed into the fresh clothes that laid on a heap on the snow.

Naruto dug a hole in the snow and poured the contents of the tomato juice into the hole he previously dug. He used his hands to cover it with fresh white snow. Naruto dragged the now empty bin towards the edge of the woods. He knew Hinata would be there, waiting for him.

"Hinata-chan, we're smell-free! Damn that stupid skunk. All that work."

"It wouldn't have sprayed us if you-" started Hinata.

"-I know!" Naruto said grumpily. "It was my fault"

Naruto and Hinata walked back to the cabin together, side by side. The walk was silent. Naruto felt Hinata's cold hand brush against his. Naruto wrapped his hand around Hinata's.

Naruto frowned, "Your hands are cold."

Hinata blushed heavily, "I-it's n-nothing."

Naruto took of his orange jacket, revealing a black tee-shirt with the leaf symbol on it. He handed the jacket to Hinata who draped the orange jacket across her shoulders.

"Arigatou Naruto-kun. It's much better now," Hinata whispered without stuttering. Her eyes widen. Had she really felt so comfortable with Naruto-kun that her stuttering stopped when she was around him?

* * *

A/N: Yay! Another chapter finished! I'm really sorry that the only people in this chapter are Naruto and Hinata. I promise that the next chapter won't be like that! I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! Also, a big thanks to _evil-mittens_, for beta-ing. 

**Note**: Thanks to _shikashikanaranara_ for pointing out that I have double paragraphs of everything in this chapter. I like to go back on the older chapters and re-write some paragraphs. I think I uploaded the wrong version, so maybe that's why… I fixed that now.

Thanks to:

**Evil-mittens**: thanks for editing all the chapters of this fic!  
**animEvivvErz**: Thanks so much! Yes go Sakura! I'm sorry that there weren't any Sasuke and Sakura moments in this chapter!  
**Wormkaizer**: Here's a Naruto and Hinata chapter!  
**Joekool**: Oh! Singing in the rain then! Lol, snow in the summer would be so cold! But then, it mind as well snow where I am right now. It's freezing.  
**Destiny1029**: Thanks for the review! Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!  
**Chibihatsuharu**: Sorry that there wasn't really any Neji and Tenten moments in here. ! I love your pen name! Haru is one of my favourite characters in Furuba! )  
**HimitsuKokorO**: Thanks!  
**Shidolover**: Thanks, every chapter is longer than the previous. With an exception for chapter one, because that one is reposted.  
**Sakura Haruno**: You make it sound as if that was the last chapter. There's more to come, so don't worry.  
**Aiko004**: There's no Sasu/Saku in this chapter either! I'm sorry. I think that they'll be the last pair to actually get together. I'm sorry that it took me so long to update! Thanks for reviewing!  
**Millie-chan**: Yah, poor Sakura. Sorry that there isn't a Sasuke POV in this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!  
**Hehehe….**: Yay, I get a cookie! Thanks for the review, by the way!  
**Magicians of the Yami**: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!  
**Tammie**: Yah, someone uglier than Lee. Well, Lee can kind of be cute, if you pass the bushy eyebrows, I suppose.  
**Alexires**: Thanks for the review! There's tons of Hinata and Naruto moments in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it


	8. Chapter eight

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter eight  
By cocoa-latte

AN: Again, I'm extremely sorry for the lack of updates. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Sakura was sitting on one of the white lounge chairs in front of the lit fireplace. Her eyes brightened as she watched the immense flame and the smoke that emitted from the flames. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the fire.

She faintly heard the doorbell ring over the crackling of the fire. She didn't bother getting the door. There was fifteen other people living in the lodge; surely, someone would answer the door.

It was snowing heavily outside again, to Sakura's delight. She loved winter as much as she loved spring. Waking up in the morning, after a heavy snowfall was one of the most beautiful things she ever witnessed. When everything was covered in a nice comfy blanket of snow, it was like a fairytale. She and Sasuke would be walking in powder snow, hand in hand, cheeks rosy from the cold. Sakura laughed bitterly out loud. That would be a fairytale that wouldnever come true.

Her feelings were always mixed up when it came to Sasuke. It confused her. He had made it clear long ago, that she wasn't right for him. She was too weak, too annoying, and maybe too ugly for him. She silently chuckled, and to think of all those wasted years chasing him, making herself look pretty; just for him. But things changed, her love for him faded.

She wanted someone that would be nice to her, someone who appreciated her for who she was, someone that wasn't Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura could here the voices of Ino, Naruto, and Hinata through the doorway. She tore her eyes away from the flames when she heard her name. "Hn?" she replied.

Hinata appeared at the doorway, her cheeks rosy from the cold. "S-sakura-chan, Ino and I w-were going to make cookies. W-would you like to help?"

Sakura shrugged. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. Sakura got up and followed Hinata to the kitchen. The kitchen lights weren't on, leaving the room dim. Sakura saw a crack of light from the fridge.

Ino was checking over the recipe with a frown on her face. "What's wrong Ino-pig?" asked Sakura teasingly as she used a hair band to tie her hair in place. Ino didn't reply. "What type of cookie are we making anyways?" asked Sakura in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Chocolate chip cookies I think," answered Ino absently, "but there's something wrong with the recipe."

Hinata looked up. "C-can I see?" asked Hinata timidly. Ino handed her the recipe and continued taking ingredients out of the refrigerator. Sakura walked over to the counter and looked at the ingredients that Ino pulled out, on the counter, laid an egg, some flour, sugar, and chocolate chips.

"Does the recipe look funny to you Hinata-chan?" asked Ino as she washed her hands thoroughly.

Hinata nodded. "W-where did you get this recipe?" asked Hinata.

"Um, not sure. I don't really remember to be honest. It doesn't' matter where I got it, we can just kinda make up the recipe on the way, while we make it." answered Ino casually, "If it's really bad, we can give it to Chouji, he'll probably eat it. Or we can make Shikamaru eat it." There was a definite evil glint in Ino's eyes.

Hinata and Sakura looked at the blonde warily.

Before Sakura could disagree, Hinata had already agreed. Sakura frowned upon the recipe doubtfully.

Ino was measuring the flour and sugar as Hinata pulled out a wooden spoon from one of the drawers. Hinata handed the wooden spoon and the flour and sugar for her to cream. Sakura took the wooden spoon and the flour and sugar from Hinata with a uncertain look on her face. She wasn't even sure if they had measured the ingredients right. She didn't say anything, if the cookies didn't turn out well, they could always give the batch to Naruto, or as Ino had said earlier on: Chouji, or Shikamaru.

Hinata took out a small bowl and cracked the egg into it and added a few drops of vanilla.

Ino was measuring the flour with some measuring cups that she found in one of the wooden drawers. Ino used the measuring cups and measured the flour hastily and sifted it with a sieve that sat on the countertop.

Ino chatted happily with quiet Hinata and silent Sakura. They were placing the cookies onto the cookie sheet, one by one. Hinata slid the first batch of cookies into the already preheated oven.

* * *

The last batch of cookies was finally done. Sakura placed the cookies carefully onto a large platter and set it on the table. She hadn't had a chance to try them yet. Not that she really wanted do, or anything. 

Shikamaru walked lazily into the room. He glanced over to the cookies on the platter then glanced over at Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. "You made this?" he asked in a lazy drawl. Hinata nodded absently. Shikamaru pondered for a while. "May I have one?" Ino and Sakura nodded together, eyeing the cookies. Shikamaru took a cookie from the platter and stuffed it into his mouth. He grimaced and swallowed difficultly.

"This stuff tastes like shit. What type of crap did you put in it?" said Shikamaru in a disgusted voice.

Ino eyed him evily, with a bit of a maniacle grin on her face."What did you say Shikamaru-_kun_?" asked Ino in a dangerously low voice.

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting on an old brown couch in front of a roaring fire with an ice pack over his soar eye. He groaned. This had to be the worst day ever. Two hits from Ino was all he needed to be as beaten up as this. Who knew that she was that strong?

* * *

Sakura was lying on her bed reading a book while curling her hair into pink locks. There wasn't a special occasion happening or anything. She was just plain bored. By the rate that the snow was snowing, they'd be snowed in by tomorrow. 

Ino was pacing back in forth the cold bedroom. '_Damn, maybeI hit Shikamaru-kun a little too hard. I hope he didn't get hurt- wait,how did that happen! Why am I thinking of Shikamaru's health all the sudden? Why-'_

Ino's thoughts were cut short by a loud slam on a door. Ino's head snapped up. She could hear the footsteps of the person's feet on the unpolished wooden floor. "Damn people. So annoyingly loud," she muttered under her breath.

To be honest, she felt guilty for hurting Shikamaru. Again. This was the second time in the trip that she had hurt him. First it was the ski lift incident, and now this. She had that feeling in her stomach. What was it again? Oh yes, guilt. She hated that feeling.

Sakura glanced up from the book she was reading. She glanced over at Ino who was still pacing back and forth on the wooden floor. The look of worry and guilt was written all over Ino's face.

Sakura hid a small smirk. She knew that Ino was feeling guilty for hitting Shikamaru, even thoughshe hadn't hurt him _that _bad. Well at least not bad enough for him to bleed. Maybe he bled internally, but everyone gets bruises once in a while.

There was a knock on the door, so quiet that Sakura and Ino had to strain their ears to hear. "Who's there?" asked Ino vaguely.

"Umm, H-hinata," answered the timid chuunin.

Sakura placed her book carefully on her bed and swung open the door. Her smiled brightened, "Konnichiwa Hinata!"

"Konnichiwa Sakura-san, Ino-ch-chan," replied the dark blue haired girl, "I brought some m-medicine I made for Shikamaru-san.

Ino's head quickly shot up at the sound of his name. "He doesn't deserve it," she spat. "That idiot," she mutted under her breath.

"I-i'll just leave it here then," said Hinata quickly, turning to a shade of bright pink,as she placed the heavy bottle of medicine on the desk that sat neglected by the doorway.

* * *

He was still slumped over on the armchair in front of the roaring fire. The ice had long melted. What was now left was a bag with cold water. It'd hurt too much for him to get up and get more ice. He hadn't moved in the pass fifteen minutes. He just sat there, thinking. 

He groaned and sat up straight in his chair. He really liked Ino. She was his friend, his team mate, and hi-

"Shikamaru!" a voice shrieked rather loudly.

'_Great, she's gonna give me an ever BIGGER beating.'_

"SHIKA! Hinata told me I should go out and give you the medicine she made, but you don't _deserve _it."

He groaned again, '_why does she have to be so loud? My poor eardrums."_

"Are you even _litsening_ to me?" she asked sharply.

"No," he replied. '_Man, that woman just keeps getting more and more annoying.'_

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you properly. _What _did you say?"

Shikamaru figured that it'd be best if he stayed quiet. Ino breathed in and out deeply. "Anyways, Hinata made some medicine for you."

Shikamaru reached out and took the medicine from her and mumbled thanks.

"Don't thanks me, thank Hinata!" Ino growled, as Shikamaru covered his ears to block out the noise even though he could still clearly hear her words.

"Hai, Ino-chan." replied Shikamaru dully.

* * *

After plenty dinners of eating nothing but ramen, they were escaping to a nearby restaurant. Sakura was waiting by the front door along with everyone else. Cross that. _Almost _everyone else. They were still waiting for _one person. _

_'Stupid Kakashi-sensei, he's late for this, he's late for that. Can't he _ever _be on time? Now they were going to be late. She had already made reservations.'_

As if right on queue, Kakashi walked happily into the room. He could feel the anger, annoyance, and the glares directed towards him. He had a hidden smile behind his mask. Maybe instead of giving an excuse he could... _pretend_ that he _wasn't _late.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We're going to be late!"

Someone opened the door and a large gust of wind and snow blew into the warm indoors. Sakura was still glaring at Kakashi as she walked out tge door after him.

Sakura wasn't surprised that the walkway was already covered in a thick blanket of snow, even though it was cleared earlier that day. They trudged slowly through the snow.

* * *

Sakura could feel her nose plug up. She rubbed it heavily. God, it was so cold. She crossed her eyes and looked at her nose. Bright pink. _'Great,' _she thought sarcastically, '_now, I'm Rudolph.'_

"Sakura-chaaaaan,"called Naruto in his usual whiny voice.

"What do you want this time?"

Naruto lowered his voice, "You know Hinata-chan?"

"I know her," She replied as she slightly rolled her eyes.

"She's really pretty. Do you think so?" asked Naruto anxiously while twiddling with his fingers.

"Yah. She really likes you. So why don't you go talk to her?" said Sakura, smiling.

"Really?" his voice was hopeful. "How about Neji? I'm positive that he doesn't like, or trust me."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Really, Sakura-chan? I hope your right! Thanks a whole bunch! Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back." He gave her a pearly grin, before heading off to talk to Hyuuga.

Sakura could see from the corning of her eye, Naruto and Hinata chatting happily. Well, more like Naruto talking and Hinata patiently listening. It was only Hinata who could listen to Naruto's incoherent words.

Sakura could hear the flutter of a bird's wings. She looked up and saw a heron start to fold up it's wings and land on the snow covered fir trees nearby. As the bird landed, Sakura saw the snow start to slip from the branches. Her eyes widened as she saw the snow fall and land directly on Sasuke's head and body, and go down his back.

Serves him right." Sakura could hear Naruto say rather loudly.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I'm finally through with another chapter! This chapter was suppose to be up yesterday, but my beta would rather read a story on fanfiction, than edit this chapter. (I know, I think I would too.) I'm sorry that I'm being mean to Shikamaru and Sasuke, but it's for a good cause, I promise. Thanks to everyone for reading, and a bigger thanks to everyone who reviewed! Last, but not least, thanks to my beta: _evil-mittens_! I know you hate to edit my crappy story, but you edit it anyways. Thanks!

**animEvivvErz:** Thanks! Yah Sasu/Saku does take longer to develop. They'll probably be the last to get together in this fic. Oh, and thanks for reading the chapter repost!  
**Wormkaizer: **Thanks! I'm sorry that there's not much Naru/Hina in this chapter. /  
**Metalicgal:** Thanks! I didn't update that fast, but do I still get the plushie? Lol. I don't have any plushies either. I'm not sure where you get them. I only have Naruto figurines.  
**LiveLoveLaugh: **I like you pen name. ) Yes! I updated! (even though it took kinda long…)  
**CrAzYbAbY123: **Thanks! Sorry that I didn't update that soon…  
**Joekool: **Thanks! Yeaah, stinky skunk. "I am singing in the sun! juz singing in the sun! the sun is burning me OH im singing in the sun! im singing im singing in the sun!" that made me laugh so much! The sun is burning you? Ouch.  
**DrEaMeR1003252: **Thanks! Oh, how did you get to review four times on one chapter? It only lets me review once…  
**BrokenAngel,ForgivenDevil: **Thanks for the suggestion. And perhaps… later on, Hinata will peek in on Naruto… ) I didn't realize that I said Kiba twice there in chapter one. Thanks for pointing that out!  
**Timeshifter16: **Hmm… quicker updates? I try! I really do! I'm sorry that there wasn't a lot of Naru/Hina in this chapter…  
**kyoru 4 eva: **Thanks! Here's the next chapter!  
**Warprince2000: **Thanks! Here's the next chapter!  
**Irukapooka: **Thank you! You're fic, "what am I doing here?" is great. Will you update soon?


	9. Chapter nine

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter nine  
By swt-angel-babi3

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Sakura was lying on her bed flipping through a few magazines. Her hair was tied up into a messy bun with a black hair tie. She heard the stairs creak from the heavy load of whoever was walking up. The footsteps passed her door and faded. Sakura sighed heavily as she hastily flipped another page of her magazine.

The phone rang loudly. Sakura gave a jump in surprise. _Bringg. _The ringing stopped after one ring. Someone else must have picked it up.

There was a knock on the door, but before Sakura could reply, it swung open. Ten Ten dashed in with a phone. Her hand covered the mouth of the receiver.

"It's a boy Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Ten Ten while giggling.

Sakura told her thanks and toke the phone from her and politely ushered Ten Ten out the door. Ever since the dance the other night, Ten Ten had been awfully happy and bubbly. Not like her at all.

"Moshi Moshi." said Sakura as she answered the phone.

"Hello Sakura." said a deep voice.

Sakura couldn't quite figure out where she had heard this voice before. She didn't say anything.

"It's Aniro." he paused for a while, He again got no reply. "I was your date for the dance the other night."

"Oh!" said Sakura. She had forgotten all about him. The slip of paper with his number in it was starting to collect dust on top her desk. "I remember you!" Sakura closed her eyes from embarrassment after saying that. It even sounded stupid to her ears.

She could hear Aniro chuckle on the other line. "So…" he pondered for a moment. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

"I think so."

"Would you like to go out for dinner then? Just the two of us?"

The image of Sasuke flashed through her mind. A scowl came across Sakura's face as she pushed the thought away. "Sure! That'd be great!" she replied.

"I'll pick you up at eight then." Aniro replied.

"Hai, see you then!"

_click_

Sakura put down the phone on the desk and flopped down on her bed. She had a date tomorrow night and she had nothing nice to wear. Her first date, mind you. She felt a little nervous even though it was over twenty four hours before her date. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to flutter more with every breath she took.

Her first date! She was so glad that she was away from home. If her mother knew, she'd be right beside her when her date rang the doorbell… be taking pictures… stalking them… asking them hundreds of questions… The embarrassment of the thought made Sakura's cheeks blush a delicate colour of pink.

* * *

Hinata was contently sitting on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate cupped around her small hands. She held the mug close to her nose and inhaled the sweet scent. The fireplace was lit, with a large roaring fire. Her pale lavender eyes watched the flames crackle. A certain blond haired boy joyfully sat down beside her, startling her. He too, was holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate. 

"Konnichiwa, Hinata-chan!" greeted Naruto, with a pearly white, rather foxy smile on his face. Naruto placed his cup down on a small table beside the snugly couch. Hinata quietly greeted him; the nervousness in her voice was slightly evident. She brushed her shoulder length hair out of her eyes.

Naruto calmed when seeing her serene lavender eyes. '_She's beautiful.' _thought Naruto continuously.

Hinata took a small sip of her hot chocolate, not knowing what to do. The palms of her hands felt sweaty. She wiped her hands on her pants. The warm atmosphere seemed to get warmer and warmer by each second. Hinata wished the flames of the fireplace would just die. The heat caused Hinata's face to become slightly flushed.

Naruto's concerned eyes looked over Hinata. "Are you feeling well Hinata-chan? You're face looks flushed."

Naruto raised his hand to feel the temperature on her forehead. Hinata gently pushed his hand away and assured him that she was fine. Naruto looked at her questionably, but dismissed the subject. "Ahh, only eleven days left on this mountain! Then we're home free!" Naruto looked out at the window where the snow fell constantly. He yearned to go back to Konoha. At least it was still _warm _there.

Naruto's stomach grumbled quietly. The grumbling was only loud enough for him to hear. He ignored the grumbling and suddenly realised that he was _very _close to Hinata. She was closer than he bargained for. Her head leaned closer to his. Naruto felt a jolt in his stomach as she leaned closer and closer, her eyes closed. He could feel her soft breath on his skin. She was going to kiss him. Naruto closed his eyes, knowing it was rude to keep his eyes open. They're lips were nearly touching.

The door opened with a loud bang, making Naruto and Hinata quickly jump apart. It was Gai who opened the door. He gave them a wink and thumbs up. "Sorry to bother you two." said Gai grinning. He closed the door and heard him say quietly. "Ahh, the wonders of youth love."

Hinata and Naruto felt a blush crawl up their cheeks. "I'm sorry." said Hinata quietly, not looking Naruto in the eye. The usual bubbly optimistic blond looked down at the floor. "It's okay Hinata-chan." he thought hard for a while. Thinking hard, wanting the right words to come out. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"The thing is Hinata-chan." he began nervously. "The thing is, I really like you." he blurted out quickly. He instantly regretted saying that. _I'm so stupid! Why did I say that?_

Hinata smiled her cheeks still red. She felt like she wanted to cry of happiness. He _liked _her! "I like you too, Naruto-kun." she said, with tears slowly coming down her face.

"Don't cry, Hinata-chan." whispered Naruto.

* * *

Ten Ten was with Sakura, helping her rummage through her closet to see if they could find a decent outfit for her to wear tomorrow night. Ten Ten was the one in the closet, going through all Sakura's clothes, meanwhile, Sakura sat on the bed, her face pessimistic. Ten Ten took out an elegant, flowing dark red dress. "This is the one you wore to the dance right?" asked Ten Ten happily.

Sakura mutely nodded. She was barely listening to Ten Ten go on and on about how pretty she looked that night. Deep inside, she knew she didn't _really _want to go on the date with Aniro. She couldn't forget Sasuke. Even after all those years that she'd given up on him, and after all those years he never acknowledged her. She still felt that way inside.

Ten Ten was still talking; however, Sakura was still off in her deep thoughts. Ten Ten glanced over at Sakura, finally realising that she _wasn't _listening. "Sakura-chan?" asked Ten Ten softly, while rearranging her closet neatly.

Sakura's head shot up. "Hm?" she asked alertly. "Did I miss something?"

"Umm… no, not really; Ten Ten glanced back at Sakura's closet. "Why don't we just go out and pick out an outfit or something?"

"Like go shopping?" inquired Sakura.

Ten Ten nodded cheerfully. "Where can we go shopping though?" asked Sakura quizzically.

"There's a place I saw the other day when I was with Ne-… when I was walking around the other day." Ten Ten gave a false smile; she almost gave away her secret… Sakura's eyebrows were raised, so she _was _going out with Neji. She placed the palm of her hand on the soft blanket.

"Sure." Sakura replied slowly, but Ten Ten didn't seem to notice. Ten Ten put Sakura's clothes back into the closet neatly. She put the red dress back on the wooden hanger and gazed over it; remembering the night of the dance.

Ten Ten gave a small smile. "We'll go tomorrow morning then, Sakura-chan." said Ten Ten quietly, while she shut the narrow door quietly behind her. Sakura said bye quietly; turned back to the window she watched the white snow fall down gracefully. She felt guilty for going on a date with Aniro and not Sasuke. Not that Sasuke would _notice. _

She walked over to the oak desk and picked up a small slip of white paper, which had been beginning to collect dust. It was the paper where Aniro had written his number on just a few days ago. She studied it for a while and placed neatly back on the desk. She walked around the room a few times. She had nothing to do. It was too snowy to ski or snowboard. Everyone was off doing something else. For some, having a good time, and being with someone they **_cared _**about. She felt a pang of loneliness in her heart.

She felt she had to get away from here. The lodge was suffocating her. She could hear the muffling and giggling of Ten Ten and Neji in the next room. In only three days, they had already gotten together. At least everyone else was still sane. Sakura picked up her warm black winter coat and her light pink scarf and headed out the door. She quickly went down the stairs, on her way out, she passed the living room. The door was tightly closed. Odd… it's never closed. She could hear someone say softly. "I love you too, Hinata-chaaaan."

No need to figure out who else was with him. Even Naruto loved someone. It's said that the best thing in the world is to be loved and to be loved in return. She obviously hasn't found that yet. She pulled the large front door open. A gust of air blew in, she shivered. The door closed with a click, Sakura took out the key and locked it.

She walked on the snowy trail. The snow was still falling heavily, dotting her pink hair with snow. Another draught of wind blew past, chilling Sakura to her bone. Sakura wasn't going anywhere in particular. Just walking on the trails and enjoying the scenery, while smelling the sweet scent of fresh pine in the air and her thoughts jumbled in her head.

-Later-

Ino rummaged through her suitcase. She knew she left her wallet _somewhere_. She had made plans to have lunch with Sakura, Ten Ten, and Sakura. It would be an all-girls night. Scratch that; an all-girls luncheon. She continued to search for her wallet. It didn't seem to be in her suitcase. She knew she had it a few days ago. But where had she put it?

The bedroom door slowly opened. A pink haired kunoichi popped her head in, only to find Ino-pig rummage around _their _room. Not to mention, also delving into Sakura's stuff! "What are you looking for?" asked Sakura, a hint of coldness was plain in her voice. Ino took a few moments to reply to her.

"I'm sorry about the mess, Sakura-chan." said Ino, agitated, still rummaging around. "I'll clean it up later. I promise." She pulled up the skirt of the bed and searched underneath.

"You still didn't answer my first question." pointed out Sakura, perplexedly. She sat down on one of small white stools, waiting for Ino's answer. A beam of sunlight shone onto Sakura's face. She shield her eyes with her pale hand and looked outside. The snow was still coming down lightly.

"Oh… yeah, I'm looking for my wallet. I know I had it the other day, but I just can't find it now!" exclaimed Ino. She thought for a brief minute then continued to look for her wallet. Her eyes skimmed the bland room quickly. Scepticism was evident in her pretty blue eyes. '_How could I lose it!' thought Ino frantically _

Sakura glanced at the orange and white clock that hung on the white wall. "We're already late, why don't I just lend you money, and you pay me back later?" asked Sakura, her expression blank.

"Sure." replied Ino. She took her warm powder blue jacket of the hanger and quickly put it on. "Let's go then." she said nonchalantly.

Ino, noticing the deprived expression on Sakura's face, carefully asked. "Are you feeling okay?"

A small, false smile plastered over her face. "Yeah, I'm fine!" as she shrugged of the uneasy feeling from her shoulders.

Ino narrowed her eyes and followed Sakura down the old curved wooden staircase. Soon enough, they were greeted by Ten Ten and Hinata. "Ready?" asked Ten Ten edgily as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She looked outside the large window. There was a massive amount of snow on the ground, covering it completely. The trees looked synonymous, covered heavily with snow. She had an infatuation with snow. There was nothing prettier than snow.

"I'm ready." Sakura said as she put on her warm 'uggs'. Hinata gave her a wavering smile and pulled open the heavy wooden door. A ray of sunlight and a cold breeze filled the room.

"God. I hate the wind. It _always _messes my hair up." hissed Ino with attempts to flatten her perfect hair.

"There's more to life than your _hair _Ino-pig." Sakura muttered. Sakura was the last to walk out the door. She shut the door with a small click and took her keys out of her coat pocket and locked the door.

They walked down the few snowy steps and headed towards a narrow snowy trail. "Shut up big-forehead-girl." snarled Ino. Sakura knew better than to listen to Ino. She was joking after all.

"Where were we going to eat again?" asked Sakura offhandedly. She studied the snow prints on the ground; some footsteps, animal tracks, odd markings, snow angels, remains of a snowball fight. Snow left remainders of everything that passed by. Her head snapped up when Ten Ten replied happily.

"Oh, just this restaurant I saw the other day."

Sakura raised her perfectly arched eyebrows and gave Ten Ten a knowing look. She was with Neji 'the other day'. She didn't say anything. They continued walking on the trail, listening to, mostly Ino, talk on and on and on. Sakura smiled and nodded repeatedly. She wasn't _really _listening to Ino. Her mind was somewhere else…

"Are we there yet?" Ino was saying.

"Nearly!" replied Ten Ten enthusiastically. "I made reservations yesterday." She glanced over at Hinata. "Do you happen to know the time?" she asked. Hinata checked her watch. "12:15," she told her quietly.

"Shoot!" exclaimed Ten Ten louder than usual, cutting short Sakura's thoughts. "We're already late!"

"It wouldn't matter would it?" asked Ino. She pondered for a while. "Like, they wouldn't give our seats away would they?" Ino waited for one of them to reply to her question. They didn't say anything. She gave a hmph and felt slightly ignored.

Ten Ten urged them to walk faster. A few minutes passed as the four walked in silence, all lost in their deep private thoughts. It was peculiarly quiet. The silence seemed to echo around in their ears.

Ten Ten's eyes noticeably lit up as her eyes landed on a small cozy restaurant located by the corner of the 'street'. Not technically a street. More like a crowd of cabins with stores, restaurants, etcetera.

There was a small cluster of people waiting outside the door.

"Aren't you glad I made reservations?" asked Ten Ten casually. The other kunoichi's nodded mutely, snapping out of their thoughts. They began making their way through the chattering crowd. A man roughly pushed Sakura aside as she made an attempt to pass him. Sakura gritted her teeth together. She had when she was treated with insolence.

"Sakura-chan!" cried a deep voice.

Sakura's head shot up. Not able to identify who was calling her. She felt a cold hand gently grabbing her hand, making her turn around to face the man. She looked up into his warm dark eyes, startled; she quickly realized who he was. "Aniro!" she exclaimed.

"Nice meeting you here of all places!" Aniro gave her a smile.

* * *

Ino had already reached the restaurant. Ino turned around, immediately noticing that Sakura wasn't behind her anymore. She gave a sigh of frustration and found her way into the crowd to look for Sakura. She scanned the crowd. She saw a flash of pink hair. "Sakura!" she hollered, making the surrounding people glare at her. 

Sakura's eyes grew wider. "Hn?" she asked cautiously as she turned around to face a loud blond-haired kunoichi. Ino didn't seem to hear her as she eyed the way Aniro's hair fell into his dark eyes, and the mysterious way he talked. Boy was he something.

It was a few moments before Ino snapped out of her daydream. "Anyways," she began briskly. "We were supposed to have _lunch together._ Remember?" she finished off, her tone irritated. "_Girl's _lunch out and he doesn't look like a girl."

Sakura blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah." she turned back to Aniro and mouthed 'sorry' to him. He gave a curt nod in return.

They made their way back into the restaurant where Ten Ten and Hinata had already seated. Sakura pulled out her chair and sat down. The air was warm in the restaurant. It was small, but cozy.

Sakura's mind wandered, yet again; lost in her thoughts.

* * *

AN: Phew, finally done! This is my longest chapter yet! Over 3000 words. I'm sorry for the long updates! I'm trying to rewrite the older chapters. Chapters one and two are already rewritten. Thanks for the reviewing! 

**animEvivvErz**: Thanks! Yup, Sakura and Sasuke will be _gradually_ getting together. **Bakutiku: **Hmm… not a lot of Neji/Ten fluff in this chapter. (Oh, alright. There was barely any.) I'll try to put more Neji/Ten in chapter 10 though! **Sakura itoe: **Thanks! **Irukapooka: **Thanks! Yeah, I have 5 Naruto figurines! I'm so mad though, I can never find a Sakura one though. **Sumbodi: **Typical Kakashi. That's right! Sasu/saku will come gradually. I don't want to rush that pairing. **AkiaBinzaid: **Hehe, thanks. Lotsa Naru/Hina in this chapter! P **Joekool:** Haha, singing in the leaves! Ahh, don't remind me of leaves! Have this huge Sakura tree in front of my house and I have to rake and rake and rake and rake... I don't like cherry blossoms as much as I did before. **BrokenAngel,ForgivenDevil: **Thanks. Well, Sakura goes on a date with Aniro in the next chapter. So YES Sasuke will definitely be jealous! **Rogue-Lu: **Thanks! **Warprince2000: **Thanks. Sorry about the slow update. I'm rewriting the older chapters. **Wormkaizer: **Thanks! A big Naru/Hina scene in this chapter. I hope you like it! **Narutowhenimbored: **Thanks! **Chaotic Demon:** Thank you! **Durian: **Yea. Writing a whole chapter on food made me hungry too! Wow. Korean BQQ with 12 people must be awesome. D **Millie-chan: **Thanks. Sasu/Saku will take longer than the other pairings. Just so it won't be rushed. **Sephynarutocloud: **I don't always take this long to update. I'm rewriting the older chapters in between, so that's why. Actually… this fic updates much more often than my other one…** Uchihasasuke161616: **NOOO! YOU KILLED MY BETA-READER! XX;

Much thanks to my beta-reader **wun-liddo-babi**! (No, she didn't really die.)


	10. Chapter ten

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter Ten  
by swt-angel-babi3

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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Sakura twirled the straw around in her hand mechanically before drinking the last of the dark sweet cola. She placed the empty glass back down on the counter and walked over to the large fridge. She forcefully jerked the door open; only to find it nearly empty. All was left was an open can of pop, a single egg, and some milk cartons. 

Sakura silently cursed the four senseis. They had been eating ramen for how many meals a day now? She sighed and took the glass to the sink to wash. She turned on the faucet and watched as the sink slowly filled up with soapy hot water.

"You're doing the dishes again?" asked a curious voice that made Sakura jump. She hadn't even noticed that someone came into the room. She turned around to face Kiba with Akamaru snug in his jacket hood. Akamaru turned his beady black eyes towards her.

"Uhh… yah." she told Kiba uncertainly as she turned off the faucet.

Sakura had been washing most of the dishes since they got her. She hated the sight of stacks of dirty dishes piled beside the sink waiting to be washed.

"Can you wash my dishes too?" he asked distantly as he scratched Akamaru behind his ears.

"I'm sure I'm capable!" she said jokingly.

"_May _you?" he asked again.

"Sure." Sakura replied.

"Thanks Sakura-san." he told her happily.

Sakura smiled and began cleaning the stack of dishes. The hot water stung her fingers, but she continued anyways. The dishes only took her ten minutes to clean. Sakura breathed in the last of the lemon scent of the dish detergent before releasing the water.

Sakura sighed. Her day tomorrow was already planned out. She could even visualize the day. First, Ten Ten would wake her up bright and early, she'd get dress, eat a quick breakfast, then Ten Ten would help Sakura buy an outfit for her date with Aniro the same night. She'd eat lunch, perhaps go skiing for a while… then she'd get ready and would go meet Aniro.

The hot water had turned her hands red. Sakura splattered some moisturizing cream on her now red hands. She brushed a strand of pink hair behind her ear and gave a sigh. She walked into the dark hallway, letting her eyes adjust to the unlit long path. She walked clumsily down the hallway and turned left into the living room. A dying fire in the fireplace emitted some sparks and crackled a bit. Sakura flopped down on the lumpy sofa and closed her eyes. She felt so exhausted. She turned her head on the pillow and her glassy eyes stared out the window. The sun had already set, leaving behind a murky atmosphere.

Sakura stifled a yawn and closed her eyes and quickly fell into a calming sleep.

-Later-

Sasuke entered the kitchen table and joined the rest helping to set up dinner. He moodily took out sixteen pairs of chopsticks and soup spoons and set them on the table. He paused briefly as he placed the chopsticks on the seat where Sakura usually sat before he continued on setting the table.

Chouji carried the last large bowl of ramen to the table and carefully set it down, making sure the soup didn't spill down the edge.

"Sasuke!" exclaimed Naruto. "Go find Sakura-chan and tell her its dinner time 'kay?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a cold glare before heading off to find the pink-haired kunoichi. Sasuke walked down the narrow hallway and peaked into the living room and found her lying on the sofa. He silently crept over to Sakura, who was fast asleep. She looked beautiful in her sleep. Sasuke found it hard to tear his eyes off her. Sasuke regained his composure and said in his usual monotone voice. "Dinner."

Sakura abruptly woke up to his voice. That was the best sleep she'd had in a while; even though it was only a short fifty minutes.

"Hai." she answered while rubbing her blurred green eyes.

She followed Sasuke quietly to the noisy kitchen where everyone was already seated. She took her vacant seat. She glanced around the table noticing two empty seats. Neji and Ten Ten. A small smirk formed on her pink lips, she knew exactly where _they _were.

* * *

Ten Ten sat down nervously to put on her skis. She glanced up at the moving figure above her. Her warm brown eyes met pure white ones. Ten Ten gave the Hyuuga a smile. _Finally, my FIRST date! God, I'm lucky. My first date is with Neji! _Ten Ten regained her composure and stood up, swaying over to the left. She was never really good at skiing. She never even knew how to ski a week before!

Neji gazed at Ten Ten, his eyes softened. "Do you need help?" he offered kindly.

Ten Ten looked up startled. A sweet smile appeared on her face. "Yeah…" she answered with a small laugh.

Neji handed her a pair of fading black ski poles. She took them gently from him. "Thanks." she told him quietly.

They skied together down a steep slope. The icy wind washed Ten Ten's face. She blinked hard, attempting to wet her wind-dried eyes. A few moments of silence past. Ten Ten bit back her lips, suddenly realizing how close Neji was to her.

Neji took a deep breath, making an effort to talk. Ten Ten half expected him to talk about training… again. It surprised Ten Ten when he spoke.

"Look at the sky." he murmured.

She looked up at the clear sky. The oddly clear sky. Stars speckled the large blue sky. The stars looked so closer than usual. Almost as if… almost as if she could touch them. Her hand reached out and closed her fist. Only to grab empty air.

"It's beautiful." she told him dreamily.

"Nn." agreed Neji.

The awkwardness came back, haunting them. Their brains searched for the right words. Nothing came. Neji skied over to an opening in the woods. Ten Ten followed apprehensively. She skied over to him. A rush of confidence filled her as she sped up. '_Too much confidence.'_ she thought as she lost her balance and toppled over on the snowy ground.

Her face flushed red. "Shit." she muttered, only loud enough for herself to hear. Neji's eyes shot wide open as he saw Ten Ten fall. He quickly rushed over to help her. Neji was amazed at himself. Never had he cared for someone so much for another. He extended his hand to her, to help her up.

Ten Ten declined his offer. "Let's just sit." she told him instead and pulled Neji down to sit beside her. His skis stuck out in odd positions, tangled with hers.

They slowly leaned towards each other, very aware as their lips slowly touched, the beginning of a very sweet kiss…

-Back at the kitchen table-

"Itaedekimasu." they muttered absently.

Sakura stared at the cup of ramen that sat in front of her. She was _so _sick of ramen. Everyday, it was the same thing over and over again. She picked up her chopsticks and poked it into the bowl of ramen. She twirled the noodles around a few times before taking a small bite. The taste of ramen made her want to gag.

Sakura hastily put down her chopsticks. She interrupted the conversations circling the table when she said in a loud voice. "Don't we have anything else to eat?"

They turned to look at her sudden outburst. "Go out to eat, if you really don't wanna eat ramen." said Kakashi in a muffled voice.

Sakura looked at him pointedly. "It's not like your eating." she grumbled. Stupid Kakashi and his oh-so-perfect face. She wasn't even sure if he had a perfect face. Just another stupid rumour she heard. Maybe he had fish lips. No one would know…

Kakashi glanced down at the empty large bowl that sat in front of him. "I finished." he told her simply.

Sakura gritted her teeth. Kakashi always got the best of her. She pushed her chair out and stood up and excused herself from the dinner table. She hastily jogged up the stairs and opened the bedroom door irritably and slumped on the lumpy bed. Sakura blinked a few times and soon fell into a dreamless sleep…

"Sakura!" called a hyper voice. "Sakura!" the voice called louder. "Get up will you?"

Sakura cranked an eye opened. A flood of bright yellow sunlight filled the room. It must have stopped snowing. Sakura squinted her eyes and pulled the covers closer. The air seemed chilly and oddly airy.

"Hn?" asked Sakura sleepily while rubbing her eyes. She opened her eyes again and her vision seemed much clearer. Sakura glanced over at the brunette kunoichi.

"Ten T-" began Sakura.

"We were suppose to go shopping, remember?" interjected Ten Ten. "It's late! It's nearly eight-thirty. You better hurry if you still wanna go."

Sakura stifled a yawn and nodded slowly. In Sakura's perspective, eight-thirty wasn't late. Heck, it was even early! Weren't vacations for relaxing and sleeping in? Sakura swung her legs over the bed and walked slowly to the bathroom. The wooden floor was cold, leaving her feet feeling numb. She squeezed a large portion of toothpaste on her brush and began to vigorously brush her teeth. She finished washing up and got changed. She stumbled down the stairs with her coat and scarf.

Ten Ten was already impatiently waiting by the front door. Ten Ten's face brightened when she saw Sakura hurrying down the stairs.

"Ready?" she asked happily.

Sakura nodded. "I didn't eat breakf-"

Ten Ten cutted in. "We'll go grab something on the way."

They walked briskly on a well walked snowy path that lead to a small cluster of shops. Ten Ten and Sakura chatted enthusiastically.

"So, how are things going with you and Neji?" asked Sakura with a small laugh.

Ten Ten forged her surprise. "How did you know?"

"How can I not?" asked Sakura. It was incredibly obvious by the way they looked at each other. She would have never expected the silent Hyuuga to have such affection for someone.

"Is it that obvious?" grumbled Ten Ten, while kicking the ground, causing snow to spray in random directions.

Sakura didn't answer her, for Ten Ten already knew the answer. "I didn't want everyone to find out." she muttered.

"Hm…" muttered Sakura. Her eyes landed on a small restaurant some 30 meters away. "Lets just grab some breakfast over there." suggested Sakura, pointing to the small restaurant.

"Sure." answered Ten Ten absentmindedly. Sakura pulled open the glass door and followed Ten Ten into the restaurant. They quickly ordered some bagels and orange juice. Sakura sat down on one of the chairs by Ten Ten and chewed on her bagel thoughtfully.

"Sakura?" called Ten Ten, interrupting Sakura's reverie.

"Hn?" Sakura finally answered.

"How are things going with you and Sasuke?"

"Whoa, random question!" chuckled Sakura.

"Just answer it." Ten Ten seemed amused.

"Hm… well, things are how it's always been. Still ignores me, I don't exist, etcetera." Sakura hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "It's not like it really matters right? I mean, Aniro's really nice…"

Ten Ten's expression was hardly unexpected. "I see." she said quietly.

Sakura took a swig of the sweet orange juice and swallowed it with difficulty.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Sakura, her voice go-happy and bright.

"Nearly." came the muffled reply of Ten Ten, with her mouth full of a bite of bagel. She polished off the last bit of her breakfast and stood up, a relief to her legs from sitting too long. Ten Ten put on her long over coat and opened the door. The sunlight shone brightly, yet the air freezing cold. It was a wonder how the snow never melted.

Sakura was already outside enjoying the rare sunlight. "Let's go!" she told the dark-haired kunoichi.

They walked down the snow-white path. Sakura watched her frozen breath form into white wisps of clouds. She stuck her icy hands into her coat pocket, attempting to keep them warm. She wished she had brought mittens. She brought her scarf closer to her neck and walked silently beside Ten Ten.

The crunching of the fresh snow was the only sound heard, echoing in their ears. After countless minutes, they finally arrived at the cluster of shops. Odd to have a group shops? Not really, it was a tourist attraction after all.

The tinkle of a bell was heard as they stepped into a smoky clothing store. A fireplace was roaring in the far corner and the racks were filled with various styles of clothes. The floor creaked as Sakura walked over and began browsing through a few racks.

She pulled out a black top. She examined the material closely. Hopefully it wouldn't be one of those that shrink in the wash. She flipped over the price tag. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the pricey cost. She carefully put the top back on the rack and continued to browse.

"Sakura!" called Ten Ten, her voice bright and happy.

"Hn?" question Sakura.

Ten Ten handed her a long pair of jeans that flared out nicely and a red sweater. Sakura looked at it uncertainly; it looked a little too long.

She took the pants to a small dressing room. She hung the hangers on one of the many clothes hangers. The air seemed stuffy and hot. Sakura quickly changed into jeans and top. Sakura checked herself out in the mirror. They fit her pretty well, although the pants were long. She quickly opened the dressing room door, relieved to finally breathe fresh air.

Ten Ten surveyed her. "The jeans are little long, but if you wear boots, I'm sure they'll be fine… Do you like it though?"

Sakura nodded; glad to have finally picked the outfit out. "The sweater is very comfy. Did you find anything?" she finally said.

Ten Ten nodded. "I found this really nice scarf. Too bad it's cold or else you could have bought a skirt or something."

"I agree."

They paid swiftly and opened the door and once again, stepped out into the cold snowy world.

* * *

AN: Well, here's another chapter! I'm very sorry about the long updates! Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it! Also, much thanks to my beta, **wun-liddo-babi**

**Joekool: **Haha, still singing in the snow, and freezing in the snow! Thank you, and sorry again for the long update!  
**Redlotusnin: **Thanks! Yes… lots of gum wedged into the windows… (although I believe the janitors scraped them off…)  
**warprince2000, TFI-Muse, Phoenix20043, Desert'sGaara: **Thanks and sorry about the long update!  
**Irukapooka: **Thanks! Well, I got the two of the figurines at T&T supermarket, and the other three, people got them for me. ) I'm not really sure where though…  
**Timeshifter****, Ah-choo: **Thanks so much for pointing out my mistakes!  
**Bakutiku: **Thanks! Yeah, I've always imagined her going ballistic about her hair.  
**AnimEvivvErz: **Thanks! . Yes, I'd like a pair of 'uggs' too.  
**Joann: **Thanks, sorry about the long update! Sasu/sakura will come gradually. I promise.  
**Kagome1015: **Thanks! Gosh, I never liked skunks either! I can always smell the smell of skunk lingering around the air in the summer. Stinks.  
**BlackGold**** Ficcies INC: **Thanks!  
**Sakurablossoms33: **Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I used one of you suggestions in this chapter, the Ten Ten and Neji date one. Whoaa, you almost got lost at a ski resort? Hm… I don't think I've ever gotten lost… well, there are the instructors right? But it's okay, I can get lost in supermarkets. Haha. Lots of Neji/Ten in this chapter. Enjoy!


	11. Chapter eleven

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter XI  
by swt-angel-babi3

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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"Come on, let's go Hinata-chan!" urged the vivacious shinobi. His puffy orange jacket was already on, slightly askew.

"Where are we going?" Hinata asked timidly, putting on her boots quickly. Her dark purple hair was slightly messy from the rush. Hinata glanced at Naruto, waiting for him to answer her hanging question.

"You'll see when we get there!" he exclaimed happily, already opening the door. The after air was fresh and of course cold. Naruto moistened his slightly dried lips. He impatiently waited for Hinata to get her coat on. He urged her out the door, giving her a gentle push. "Hurry!" he cried out.

Her arm ached from all the pulling from Naruto. "Why do we need to hurry?" she questioned him, slightly out of breath.

Naruto's cerulean blue eyes lowered for a while, his brain thinking hard. "We're gonna be late!" he gasped. Hinata escaped a small giggle, Naruto never seemed to answer her questions directly, his answers were always off-topic.

Hinata sprinted after Naruto, their hands painfully clasped together. Their footsteps left prints in the white snow. They continued running down the sparkling snow-white path, the cold stinging their cheeks.

Hinata gave a small gasp as her eyes laid on a beautiful brown mare attached to a red sleigh. They walked attentively to the sleigh; her hand swinging back and forth in his swiftly.

Excitement weaved through her heart as Naruto helped her up on the sleigh. She sat comfortably on the wooden bench beside Naruto.

"You know what's the best part of this is Hinata-chan?" he questioned her, eagerly.

She pondered for a moment, and then shook her head. Wasn't this already the best part?

"The best part is that I paid for it all!" he boasted loudly. Hinata blushed; she knew how Naruto was about his money. She sighed happily and felt tears well up in her eyes and the wind stung her eyes. She leaned closer to Naruto and closed her eyes dreamily, swaying back and forth from the moving sleigh.

A few moments past and Hinata opened her eyes again and stared at Naruto's cerulean eyes. Naruto noticed her gaze and smiled down at her. He brushed a few strands of violent purple hair off her face.

"I love you." he whispered to her quietly, so she could only hear.

Hinata gave him a sincere smile. "I love you too Naruto-kun." she whispered back, her eyes shining happily.

* * *

Ino brushed through her shoulder length soft hair. She sighed and placed down the comb. She was so lonely; Hinata, Ten Ten, and Sakura where all out, leaving her alone. She leaned back in her chair petulantly, her eyes met the mirror, her azure eyes stared back at her, blank.

There was a knock on the wooden door, Ino's head shot up at the sudden noise. "Come in." she called nonchalantly.

Shikamaru walked in, followed by Chouji. Shikamaru scratched his back. "We're going skiing. Would you like to come along?"

"Who's 'we.'" she questioned him.

"Eh… Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, and I" he told her tiredly.

"Mm… okay." she told him uncertainly. "Are we going now?"

"In about five minutes or so."

"Okay, I'll be ready by then."

_'I sure hope so.' _thought Shikamaru sarcastically. He observed the bland room briefly, eyeing the clothes and objects strewn across the rich-brown wooden floor. _'God they're messy.' _he thought, antagonized by the thought. He watched Ino bustle around the room quickly, gathering her belongings she would need for their little ski trip.

He silently left the room and joined the others who were already waiting outside. Shikamaru leisurely wrapped his black scarf around his neck several times, keeping him toasty warm.

"Yo, Shikamaru." greeted Kiba with a raise of his hand. Akamaru's beady eyes turned to Shikamaru; his tongue rolled out happily and gave a small bark.

"Konnichiwa minna-san." he greeted everyone back. He glanced back at the lodge. "What's taking her so long?" he muttered with gritted teeth.

"Well, you know how girls are." Rock Lee smirked.

The others nodded and agreed simultaneously. It was cloudy, not a trace of the beautiful blue sky in sight. He could hear footsteps behind him, he glanced at Ino, who was finally ready. Her blue eyes sparkled, her hair beautifully tamed. He watched her put on a furry pair of earmuffs. Shikamaru was mesmerized by her beauty.

Ino glanced at Shikamaru; there was a look of puzzlement her face. "Are you okay? You're looking at me funny."

Shikamaru snapped out of his daydream. "Huh?" he questioned her stupidly.

Concern washed over Ino. Shikamaru was the last person on earth that she'd expect to ogle over her. Ino sighed and turned her back towards him.

"Lets go!" she faked cheeriness into her voice. _'Why can't we just get moving?' _growled an aggressive voice in Ino's head.

They walked down to the ski rentals with the animated chatter of Rock Lee and Kiba with a few occasional barks from Akamaru.

Ino walked beside Shikamaru silently, not really listening to the conversation between Rock Lee and Kiba.

Shikamaru glanced up and relieved to see that the ski rental lodge was near. Hopefully there the awkwardness between Ino and him would break. He uncomfortably sneaked at Ino. She stared straight ahead, not looking his way. '_She's awfully silent today…' _

The painful silence continued between them. Ino bit her lip hard. She never really looked at Shikamaru this way. He was her comrade for everyone's sake! Just a friend… nothing more.

Sure he was funny, nice, slightly sensitive, and pretty good looking. All the qualities she looked for in a guy. However, he was lazy and well…_Shikamaru_.

Ino was startled. He was _Shikamaru. _How could she have _feelings _for _Shikamaru! _She had fallen in love with a genius, an extremely lazy shinobi, someone who didn't show affection, someone who _annoyed the hell out of her. _

Ino shook her head in frustration and once more gritted her teeth. Shikamaru glanced up at her sudden movements. He watched the blond kunoichi for a few moments. She'd be tearing out her hair soon.

"Calm down will ya?" he asked her irritably.

Her head shot up. She had forgotten that he was there. She painfully plastered a smile on her face. "Sure."

_'Stupid stupid stupid!' _the voice in her head shrieked._ 'You must have looked like a FOOL.' _

Ino gave a long sigh, suddenly; her heart gave a sudden lurch. They had finally arrived at the ski rental lodge. At least the awkwardness would be suspended for a little while.

Ino solemnly followed Shikamaru into the door. He didn't even allow her to walk in first. Ino gave a small pout, but quickly retained to her usual self, hoping that no one noticed.

Shikamaru snuck yet another glance at Ino. She had a small pout on her face. God he hated that annoying face. He kept his face straight and continued walking. The stepped into the ski rental lodge. The room smelt strongly of used shoes. His nosed wrinkled.

"May I help you?" asked an elderly woman by the counter.

"Ah… we'd like to go ski—" he was cut short by the women.

"-yes, what are you sizes?"

-Half an hour later-

Finally they stepped out of the ski rentals. They took in a deep breath of air, glad to be free of the used-shoe smell of the ski rental.

"These skis hurt my feet." grumbled Ino irritably as she rubbed her feet sorely.

"Hm… let's go downhill skiing today." suggested Kiba, ignoring Ino's comment completely. Akamaru gave a small high pitched bark.

"Yes, lets go!" exclaimed Rock Lee excitedly.

"We're going to get on the right ski lift this time." muttered Shikamaru, remembering his last incident with Ino. It _hurt _when he fell of that damn ski lift. Didn't hurt much, mind you, but it hurt all the same.

They began to ski over to the ski lift. "I'd love to learn how to snowboard." said Rock Lee abruptly as he watched a couple whiz past them on a snowboard.

"Then learn." said Ino.

"Need to find a sensei to teach me first though." Rock Lee muttered. "Since Gai-sensei doesn't snowboard very well, I don't know who can teach me."

Chouji chuckled. "Just don't ask Kakashi-sensei." he said between mouthfuls of chips.

They vaguely got on the large ski lift. The air was stuffy in the ski lift. They felt a small jerk and they began moving. Ino gingerly looked down the window. They were now above the large fir trees. She took a deep breath, she always had had a small fear of heights. Just a small fear.

"Aren't the clouds pretty?" said Shikamaru dazedly, gazing at the large purple orange clouds ahead.

Rock Lee glanced up. "Look at the sun!" he cried out. The orange fading sun was awfully large from their view, slightly covered by the clouds, dimming it.

"The sun's huge from here." commented Ino. She glanced at them and saw Shino give a curt nod. _Does the guy ever even talk!_

They were almost at the peak of the large snowy mountain. "Nearly there." Rock Lee breathed.

The ski lift stopped and they quickly piled out. It was far colder than the mass of land below them. "We should have a race to the bottom." smirked Kiba cockily.

"Sure." said Chouji as he finished the last of his chips.

"Let's stay up here for the while and enjoy the view." suggested Ino.

"Hm… okay, let's just not stay here too long, or we'll freeze to death." replied Chouji.

A small curve of a smile appeared on Shikamaru's lips. The view was awesome. They could see as far as the eye could see. Dark green fir trees sprinkled below them, covered in an icy sheet of snow. Further down was a large city littered with yellow glows of the street lights, and a blur of red from the taillights of the cars far away. The sun had already set, leaving them bathed in the moonlight.

Shikamaru glanced at Ino quickly. Her eyes reflected the moon, giving them a bright shine.

They sat there in silence, enjoying the short spur or calmness, piece, quiet, and the view.

"Well," said Ino, breaking the silence. "We should go now.

She got a few mute nods in response as they broke their trance.

They lined up symmetrically. "3, 2, 1 go!" exclaimed Rock Lee.

They sped down the hill, the wind slapped their cheeks and their eyes watered. Ino blinked her tears away as she sped down the hill. It all ended too soon. She was already at the end of the massive hill and was beginning to slow down. Her speeding heart slowed down as she took a few breaths of air after the thrilling ride.

"Ah… it was pretty close." said Kiba loudly.

"Yah." muttered Shikamaru absently.

Chouji's stomach grumbled loudly, causing everyone to stare at his belly. He shrugged. "I'm hungry. Is there a restaurant nearby? I'm not really in the mood for ramen again."

* * *

Ten Ten stood in front of Neji's room and gave a hesitant knock on his door. "Come in." came a muffled reply. 

She turned the doorknob and consciously stuck her head in. "It's Ten Ten." she told him. He didn't answer. "Um, since no one else is in the house" she hesitated. "Do you want to go… sparring?"

Neji's ears perked up. He hadn't been training much since he had gotten on the damn mountain. "Sure." he said monotonously.

Ten Ten smiled. "Okay, I'll meet you by the door in seven minutes then." she told him happily. It was extremely lonely in the house. Sakura had already left for her special date with Aniro, and Naruto and Hinata were still not back from their sleigh ride. She had no idea where Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were. All their sensei's had gone snowboarding, and Sasuke had gone out to train… alone.

She walked back to her room and pulled out her suitcase underneath her bed and gingerly took out a bundle of weapons that were carefully wrapped in a thick ragged cloth. She untied the sturdy twine and stored some shurikens and kunais into her weapon pouch that was tied around her leg securely.

She undid one of her messy bun, allowing her long brown hair flow down her back. She tightly tied it up again and reached for the elastic that she held in her mouth. She could hear Neji's footsteps in the hallway.

"I'm almost ready." she called to him, tying her hair steadily together.

A few moments of shuffling was heard. "Nn." replied Neji.

She swung open the door. It appeared that Neji was already gone. '_Probably already waiting outside.' _thought Ten Ten vaguely. She rushed down to the front door and yanked it open. Sure enough, Neji was already there, stretching out his muscles, preparing for their 'big' sparring match. He tensed up slightly as he acknowledged her presence.

"Hey." she whispered quietly. The night was dark, though the sky was clear, allowing all the stars to shine brightly.

His white eyes gleamed in the moonlight. He shifted his weight to his left foot. "Lets go." he muttered.

She followed him to a clearing nearby, their footprints covered the fallen snow as they sparred continuously. Ten Ten threw a kunai at Neji. His eyes widened as he saw the five hidden kunais that followed.

_Shit, I should have trained while I was here. I'm off._

He blocked the kunais with his own. He smirked as he threw a shuriken at her. Ten Ten immediately jumped aside. '_Not fast enough!' _thought Ten Ten frantically as the shuriken brushed her arm. Her eyes widened as blood crept out under her skin.

Neji abruptly emerged beside her. He glanced down at her deep wound. '_Good, she's still standing.' _he thought. "Sorry about that." he murmured as he took a roll of gauze out of his weapon pouch and quickly wrapped it several times around her wound.

* * *

Naruto unlocked the door to the lodge with Hinata gently clinging onto his arm. He pushed the heavy door open. His eyes met darkness. "Eh… we're home." he said to emptiness. He shrugged. "I guess no one's around." 

He ushered Hinata into the house. "I'm really hungry, would you like some ramen?" he kindly asked the black-haired girl.

_Ramen again! _Hinata forced a smile. "Sure." _Anything for him though… _She took off her boots and hung her coat up on the coat rack and followed Naruto to the spotless kitchen. She watched Naruto pull out numerous instant noodle bags from the cupboard. Hinata then found a large cooking pot underneath the stove and filled it a quarter way with tap water and turned on the stove.

"Today was fun." sighed Naruto as he watched the stove element turn red.

"Nn." agreed Hinata as she remembered the sleigh ride and the long conversations they had.

Hinata grabbed a large white teapot firmly and placed it town on the counter. "I'm going to make some tea. Do you know where the tea cabinet is again?" she asked incuriously. She began to give the teapot a good rinse.

"I think it's in the drawer by the sink." Naruto told her, still watching the boiling pot of water. "I hate this part, waiting for the water to boil. It's worst than waiting for the long two minutes of waiting for the ramen to cook."

Hinata quickly found the drawer that contained the bags of tea. "Do you prefer any type of tea Naruto-kun?" she asked kindly.

"Um… not really." he wasn't really a big tea drinker. Green tea was good; he never bothered to try the other types of tea.

"Okay, how does blackcurrant sound?" she asked him kindly, as she fingered the teabag.

"Black-what?" asked Naruto doubtfully.

Hinata glanced at him, slightly startled at his questioning face. "It's tea Naruto-kun."

"Ah…" he answered back. "Sure Hinata-chaaan."

Hinata gave him a small smile and began boiling a kettle of water. She glanced over at the impatient shinobi. He sat down on a wooden chair, with a infuriated look on his face as he glared at the pot of water. After a few moments, a few wisps of steam emitted from its side.

"Finally it's done!" cried Naruto as he hastily put three packages of instant noodles in the pot. He took out a pair of chopsticks and separated the noodles, allowing it to cook faster. He added the powder for the soup and stirred it around a few times. He took a deep breath of the swirling scent of ramen.  
Ahh… it smells so good." he breathed.

Hinata gave a smile but didn't say anything; she was still in wonder of how someone could like ramen so much. Her ears perked up as the low whistle of the kettle began to ring in her ears, slowly getting louder and louder, the shrill whistle echoed around the room. She took the kettle off the stove and began brewing the tea. The sweet aroma of the fruit tea surrounded the room.

"Smells good!" exclaimed Naruto happily as he placed the ramen into ceramic bowls. One for Hinata, two for him.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" laughed Hinata as she set the table for the two of them. "It's so weird, it seems so quiet, everyone's gone." she whispered.

Naruto shrugged. "It's always like this when I'm home." he muttered.

Hinata bit her lip, she probably shouldn't have said that. She busied herself pouring the tea into the delicate teacups. She handed one to Naruto. "Here, try it!"

Naruto gave her a wide grin. "Thanks." he took a sip. He was shocked by the taste. It was bitter. Not just bitter, but really bitter. The tea was far too strong. The scent of the tea sure smelt good, sweet, like candy. It wasn't quite the same when you actually drink it.

"Do you like it?" asked Hinata.

Naruto faked a grin. "Yah! It's really good, Hinata-chan."

"It's my favourite." she smiled.

* * *

Sakura fiddled with her fingers nervously. It felt so _wrong _to be with Aniro, guilt spread over her, making her skin crawl. She silently observed Aniro, his eyes fleeting over the menu. Sakura gave a sigh and took a deep breath, the aroma of food surrounded her warmly. She couldn't wait for Sasuke anymore. Years after years, the same words haunted her. '_You really are annoying.' _Sakura cringed at the memory of the words that haunted her. 

A wave of infuriation washed over her. Despite all those years wasted from chasing Sasuke, she still loved him. _'Stupidity.'_thought Sakura spitefully. She couldn't figure out _why. _Why after all those pathetic years she still loved him. '_But it isn't love. Love isn't when you chase after a heartless cold avenger who doesn't give a damn about you; and love doesn't involve with Sasuke. Uchiha's don't love. Right Sasuke?' _she thought bitterly.

"Are you okay?" asked Aniro sincerely, cutting Sakura's infuriated thoughts short.

Sakura gave him what she hoped was a believing sweet smile. "I'm fine."

* * *

AN: Another chapter though! This chapter was so fluffy. I nearly gagged when I was proof reading the Naru/Hina scene. Thanks so much for the reviews, I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't encouraged me. I'm not great with fight scenes, sorry about the badly written sparring scene. 

**Joann, Kagome1015, warprince2000, cyberwing: **thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
**Joecool**Haha, you're lucky if you're singing in the snow! I'm sorry about the slow update!  
**animEvivvErz: **It's freezing cold and it's not even snowing! That sound like where I live! I swear, it's freezing, and I sit here freezing, writing this chapter, and it NEVER snows! Well it does, but it never snows on Christmas, never. It's snowed on Dec. 27th last year though. (No, we probably don't live in the same state, 'cuz I don't live in the states.) Thanks for the review!  
**Irukapooka: **umm… it's just a bunch of stores around where I live. o.O I've only saw the Naruto figurines in one of six stores that I visited lately though. They're sold out, so I can't even get them anymore. (  
**Brokenangel,Forgivendevil: **Haha, I hope you liked this chapter, because I neglected Sakura. She only has this tiny section at the end.  
**Redlotusnin**** and icehunternin: **Yup, I think you can use the random date thing. It was really my beta's idea, but I'm sure she'll say yes.  
**jai0rOku: **It's actually not good timing. I started this story last year. Last December. I'm just slow really.

Again, much thanks to my beta, **wun-liddo-babi**


	12. Chapter twelve

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter XII  
by cocoa-latte

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"Ahh, dinner was good Hinata-chan!" Naruto told Hinata happily. The ramen that Hinata had cooked was just perfect. Not too spicy, but with just enough flavour. Naruto picked up his empty bowls, chopstick, and tissue and walked over to the sink. He quickly deposed of his dirty tissue and placed the dishes beside the sink carefully. He hated the sound of the ceramic bowls on the cold hard counter. 

Hinata blushed a deep shade of bright pink. "Ano, it's only ramen, Naruto-kun, i-it wasn't difficult to cook or anything," she told him truthfully. Naruto glanced up at her, confusion was in his eye. "Not difficult? Haven't you ever poured too much of that soup powder thingy for the soup, or put too much water, or… or burnt you ramen!"

"N-no, not really," she told him timidly, glancing sideways uncomfortably. She never really had trouble cooking ramen.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Are you sure that you've never put too much of the spicy powder in your soup?" Naruto shook his head at the memories. "It happens to me _all _the time! The ramen's so spicy that it's practically _impossible_ to eat, but I eat it anyways. You can't let ramen go to waste, right? Then my mouth feels as if it were on fire…"

"Ano," she began, "they say that milk really helps to quench the spiciness," Hinata commented as she perched her arms contentedly on the clean kitchen counter.

Naruto's face immediately fell. "Well, I _usually_ do have milk at home, but then I forget to drink it and it spoils," he admitted adamantly. "Then," he continued. "I would forget and drink the milk. I don't really look at the due date, like _who _looks at the due date before drinking milk! So, after I drink it, about twenty-five minutes later, I get a tummy ache." Naruto's face scrunched up as he remembered the pain. "I hate it when that happens," he groaned.

'_Who doesn't look at the due date before drinking milk?' _thought Hinata, baffled at what Naruto had just said. "Um, l-let's start washing dishes, shall we?" asked Hinata as she glanced over by the sink, the dishes were piled high.

"Okay, let's wash dishes!" Naruto exclaimed as he began rolling up his long sleeves.

Hinata faced and Naruto, she had completely regained her composure. "You sound excited about washing dishes."

Naruto looked up. "Well, I normally _hate _washing dishes. I can't figure out why they can't just _wash by themselves. _It's not like anyone really _enjoys _washing dishes right? It's like those stupid D-rank missions all over again."

Hinata forged a smile, she was happy with him though, she adored his love and he adored hers. Yes, he was slightly weird at times, but he was Naruto. What else would you expect? "Ano... y-yeah, wouldn't that be great?" Hinata commented, '_Isn't that why people invented the dishwasher?'_

"It's cold," Naruto stated as he glanced out the kitchen window. The snow had begun to fall again. "I'm starting to get sick of snow. It's just there, white, cold, blinding at times, annoying, needs to be _shovelled, _and did I mention cold?"

Hinata snapped his attention back to him. "I-i think you mentioned cold."

Naruto drummed his fingers on the sink. "Let's start washing the dishes," he said again.

Hinata nodded nervously. "Sure," she replied back to him as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her small ear. She looked over at Naruto contently; and watched him wash the dishes difficultly.

"Kuso, this stupid stain won't _come off!_" he gritted his teeth together as he scrubbed the pot harder with the SOS pad. Naruto paused for awhile, letting his arm take a small rest.

Hinata looked over at Naruto cautiously. "Ano, d-do you want me to help you?" she asked him kindly.

"Sure!" he cried happily, and handed her the pot. "So… can I rinse?" he asked hopefully.

"I-if you want." shrugged Hinata. She didn't have any objections of washing anyways. She picked up the pot and filled it with some new soapy hot water and set it aside. "I haven't gone training for a while," she told Naruto.

Naruto shrugged. "I haven't either. Only Sasuke-bastard, Neji, and Tenten are still training, I think. I'm not really sure," he sighed, "we're on vacation. Vacations are suppose to be _fun _right? So what's the point of training?"

"Ano... well, I guess there's no point then," Hinata answered.

"Exactly! It's nice to have a few days of rest. Well, two weeks, fourteen days, but it's still basically the same." Naruto pondered for a moment. "I should train though, or else I'll lose my touch!"

"Hmm…" mused Hinata as she finished washing the pot that Naruto had trouble with. She drained the dirty water in the sink and watched what was left of the bubbles go down the pipes. "Done!" she exclaimed quietly.

Naruto looked up at her. "Already?" he questioned. "It's so nice to have someone to wash dishes with. It takes me so long just to wash it myself." His face lit up. "Let's go out in the snow!"

* * *

"Maybe we should stop sparring and go back…" Neji suggested as he looked down at her wound on her arm; the arm which he was still holding. 

Ten Ten followed his eyes down to her wound. She yanked her arm away, "I'm fine, let's keep sparring." Neji looked at her with an unreadable expression, but finally nodded. Neji took a few steps back and got into his fighting stance.

Tenten fingered the shurikens in her pouch, while thinking up a plan. Neji on the other hand already thought of a plan and started to attack. He raced towards her with two shurikens and threw them swiftly at her. Ten Ten saw this coming and quickly ducked; Neji pulled out a kunai and tried to attack her. Ten Ten also saw this coming; she jumped up to avoid Neji and kicked him square on his back. Neji landed face flat on the cold wet snow but quickly recovered.

Neji smirked, "nice move." Ten Ten didn't respond, she took out a kunai and threw it at the Byakugan user. Neji didn't even have to dodge it, _'her aim is so off.'_ A sudden explosion hit Neji and made him go flying through the trees. '_Shit, how could I miss the explosion note wrapped around her kunai? Okay, maybe her aim isn't off, maybe it's just me.'_

Neji quickly got up and absently brushed the snow that

A smirk appeared on Ten Ten's lips. Neji was not doing well in their little sparring game today. Perhaps she had a chance to win, for once. "You should have trained during the past week Neji," Tenten told him, as she watched him get into his fighting stance again.

Neji glanced up, as he watched how the moonlight illuminated Tenten's smooth face; sometimes he didn't understand her. Did she forget that for the entire last week, he was spending time with her?

Neji gave a small sigh. "I'm a little tired now Tenten. Do you want to just go back to the lodge?"

She glanced up at him, surprised that he was ending their sparring game so quickly. "Okay," she agreed easily. '_Sore loser,' _laughed the voice in Tenten's head. She bent over and swiftly swapped up a chunk of snow. She could see Neji looking at her, amused, from the corner of her eye.

Tenten ignored him and began to shape the snow round. Again, she glanced up; pleased that Neji too had a snowball in his hand. Tenten looked at him suggestively. She didn't wait for his response, as her arm was already arched far back. Tenten hurled the large snowball at him. It skimmed over his head, catching his hair.

Neji vaguely glanced at his hair, noticing the little speckles of white snow littering on his hair and coat. He momentary looked at Tenten, aware that the stinging cold snowball was still in his hands. Tenten watched Neji as he reached into his coat pockets and took out his brown mittens.

A small smile crept onto his lips. "Snow ball fight?" he asked; the snowball still in his hands.

Tenten, noticing Neji's small smile, grinned widely. '_He's so cute when he smiles…' _"I'd love to," Tenten answered back with a nonchalant smile on her face. God, she couldn't wipe that stupid smile off her face. Just being with him made her feel special and… different. Tenten shook her head slightly to clear her dazed head.

"Oh! Let's have a really big snow fight. We can build snow forts too!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Neji smiled softly. "Sure," he told her, amused that she was so excited about the little puffs of snow that lay on the ground.

Neji gave a momentary look at his surroundings. Everything was so surreal. All the snow, this trip, him and Tenten… There were days where he would actually pinch himself to see if it were all real.

Tenten smiled at him, she could feel the rush of adrenalin that ran through her body when he smiled at her. She knelt down on the snowy floor and began forming a large snow fort. Neji bent over and whispered in her ear, "or we could just go back to the lodge and spend some time together."

A glint of excitement was noticeable in Tenten's eyes. "I'd love to," she whispered back to him. She still couldn't rip the stupid smile off her face. She loved spending time with Neji. Every minute, every second was heaven. As long as she was with him, she'd be living in bliss.

* * *

Ino looked over at Shikamaru expectantly. "Well, everyone else wants to go somewhere to eat because they're sick of ramen, but I'm not really hungry. How about you?" she asked him, her blue eyes glanced over at him impatiently. 

"Aw, that's no fun," Shikamaru sighed, condemned at the thought. He was _hungry._

"I'm not hungry," Ino repeated her eyes set hard at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed-again. He wasn't really looking forward to another hit on the head. He had already lost enough brain cells, thank you very much. He hesitated, "Okay, we can just go back to the lodge if you want."

Chouji looked over at them with a hint of a smile on his face. "Have _fun_," he called as he tucked his cold hands into his pockets. Shikamaru grumbled and ignored Chouji's sarcastic reply. He gave a short wave to the other before following Ino back to the lodge.

The large spacious cabin was close, and they wouldn't have to go very far to reach it. Shikamaru followed Ino dubiously. "I'm actually really hungry," he admitted.

Ino turned around the face him, "I actually wanted to talk to you,"

"Yah, you're talking," grumbled Shikamaru, still mad at the fact that she pulled him away from a _ramen-free _dinner.

Ino sighed, "Never mind," '_Why does he always have to be so troublesome?'_

Shikamaru glanced over at her. "No, you can talk if you want," he muttered.

"You're so stupid Shikamaru," she muttered as she began walking again.

Shikamaru looked at her gobsmacked. What had he done to deserve to be called stupid? "What did I do?" he asked her.

"I said never mind," she said clearly and turned away from her.

Shikamaru sighed and quietly followed her back to the cabin.

* * *

Sasuke calmly placed his kunai back into his weapon pouch. He glanced around his surroundings guardedly; it seemed that it was only him who still trained on daily basis. Sasuke stood there, motionlessly. There was nothing _to do _in this stupid mountain. Sasuke watched as the pure white snow swiftly sprinkled down from the trees. 

Sasuke picked up his coat that he left hanging on one of the branches.

The snow seemed to fall with every motion he made, every breath he took. He hated all this, the snow. It was so clean, pure, and innocent. _'Like Sakura,' _the voice in his head told him slyly. Sasuke felt his hands clench together, his nails digging into his skin.

'_What the hell? Why is this voice always taunting me?' _thought Sasuke angrily as he slipped another kunai back into his weapon pouch. Sounds of giggles filled the air. Sasuke grumbled as he started to walk back to the lodge. It was far, but he wanted to be as far away from the love-sick chuunins while he was training. _'Like you were actually training. Couldn't stop thinking about her eh? Admit it, you like her.' _"Get-out-of-my head-" he growled. The farther away from the lodge the better it was.

He had always hated the phrase 'love's in the air,' but it seemed that love always _was _in the air. Everywhere he went, it wouldn't leave him alone. Sasuke gave a small irritated sigh and began heading back to the lodge. This whole trip was a waste. Everything was different, he couldn't train well, and he couldn't eat well (considering ALL that ramen they all consumed everyday.) He couldn't even sleep well, he couldn't go home, he couldn't…

Never mind, he was just stuck here. Sasuke continued to walk down the snow path that lay unmarred except his own footprints that littered the ground. With a jolt of realization, he hated snow. It was too innocent, too perfect, it was too _fake._

Sasuke looked up. '_Good,' _he thought. He was almost at the lodge now. Sasuke reached into his back pant pocket and took out a dangling keychain with a small silver key attached to it. He stuck it into the keyhole and absently turned to the left and pushed the door. It didn't open. Frustrated, he turned the key to the right and heard a satisfying _click_. Finally, it was open.

Sasuke walked in, he could feel the warm musty air of the almost empty cabin. He could only sense Naruto's and Hinata's charka in the living room. '_Are they always in here or something?' _thought Sasuke incredulously. He kicked off his black boots and placed them down on the wooden shoe rack.

Maybe he would have time to look through _her _room. Sasuke walked up the creaky stairs quietly. He didn't want to _interrupt _anything. Sakura and Ino's room was located second left. Sasuke stood in front of the closed door. He knew that the doors didn't have locks; he placed his hand on the cool doorknob and gently turned it.

The room was filled with a mix of Ino's perfume, and Sakura's cherry blossom shampoo. The room was fairly messy; he could see the mounds of clothes that lay strewn across the once clean floor.

Sasuke walked over the clothes, careful to not step over any, he sat down on Sakura's empty bed. He gave a frustrated sigh.

Sasuke couldn't understand his mixed feelings. He was thinking so _much _about _her _lately. He didn't even _like _her. '_Liar!'_ the voice taunted in his head.

Sasuke blew out a deep breath and abruptly stood up. His eyes landed on a crumpled small white piece of paper on the old wooden desk. He attentively picked it up and began unfolding the mass of wrinkles. He quickly scanned through the paper.

Note:

Sakura- date with Aniro- Wednesday

(123-4567)

Sasuke crumpled the note again. He could feel blood rush through his veins. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. She was going out with the guy. It was the guy from that stupid dance that he was literally _dragged _along to.

Sasuke's eye's narrowed. That _bastard.

* * *

_

Sakura sat down across from Aniro courteously. He was still as handsome as she last saw him. His eyes were colder than she remembered. It instantly reminded her of Sasuke. She nervously placed her hands gently on the table. Aniro looked up, aware of her uncomfortable gaze and nervousness. '_This is so damn awkward,' _thought Sakura miserably.

Aniro handed her the cream-coloured menu, "Here, why don't you pick something to eat?"

Sakura gave him a tense smile and crossed her legs underneath the table. "Thanks," she told him quietly as she brought her eyes down to scan over the menu. There wasn't anything that she really had an urge to eat. She wasn't very hungry, she was still pretty full from her big late lunch with Tenten.

Aniro glanced over at her. "Why don't you order the seafood dish? I heard that it's very good here," he motioned to the restaurant.

Sakura gave him a small smile. "Alright, I'll order that," she said politely as she placed the menu back down on the table.

"So," began Aniro, "is this your first time at the mountain?"

"Yes," admitted Sakura, "It is my first time. I'm actually here with some friends, some former genin teams, and our old senseis."

Aniro's eyebrows raised, "you're a _kunoichi_? You never told me that! You could probably kick my ass then," he laughed coldly.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. There was just something about the way he said 'kunoichi.' He practically spat out the word. "Yah, I'm a kunoichi, and I probably could kick your ass," Sakura informed him. She knew he wasn't a shinobi; his charka was far too low. He didn't seem to be the asshole that he was the last time they met.

Sakura leaned forward, "I actually have to go now, I forgot, I have an appointment to get to." She got up before he could say anything. "Bye!" she called merrily.

She shouldn't have assumed that he was a nice person. Then again, he wasn't such a bastard last time. She'd drive herself insane if she stayed in there him any longer.

* * *

Yes, I've finally changed my pen name! As you can see, it's cocoa-latte now. Finally finished this chapter! Again, I'm really sorry for the slow updates. Big thanks to my beta **evil-mittens**. (same beta, different penname.) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you're all awesome! 

**Sephynarutocloud, warprince2000, Shikage-Tsaya, Chobit 00, UNKIND, Nobody O.o, redlotusnin and icehunternin, girlwatershamen**: Thank you all so much for reviewing! Here's the next chapter, and I'm sorry for the long update.  
**Sakurablossoms33: **You got lost snowboarding again? Good thing you found your way back though! (sorry for the slow update!)  
**timeshifter: **Thanks for the review and pointing my mistakes out! I appreciate it!  
**animEvivvErz: **Thanks for reviewing! The sun's shining and it's winter? Hm... that happens where I live too. It's usually warmer when it's raining than when it's sunny. (but that's if its spring, fall, or winter.) I was so happy that it snowed though. It kept snowing, and the snow wouldn't melt. Then I got sick of the snow. Haha. XD Thanks so much for the super long review!  
**Als4137, sad4ngel, irukapooka, direwolf1427, Kagome1015: **Thank you all for the reviews! Sasuke and Sakura will be coming later. (After Shika and Ino get together. Sasuke and Sakura will likely be the last couple to get together in this story.  
**Brokenangel,forgivendevil: **Haha, yah, Sakura got neglected. She's kinda neglected here too. I can't keep neglecting her anymore though!  
**sae konoto: **Hm… Sasuke didn't take Sakura dating Aniro very well…  
**millie-chan: **Sakura's angst because she has finally broke down after all these years of neglect from Sasuke.  
**Shikaslacker: **I updated, I updated, I updated! I'm sorry. I know I'm a very slow updater. I get writer blocks ALL the time! I usually update when my beta starts to nag me though. I'll try to update sooner. Thanks!


	13. Chapter thirteen

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter Thirteen  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

Sakura pushed open the restaurant door and stepped outside. The air was icy cold, as usual. She didn't understand all this. She remembered Aniro as nice, sweet, and caring. Those pleasant thoughts have now gone down the drain. The last thing she would say about Aniro was _nice. _She could even say that _Sasuke _was nicer than him. 

Sakura cringed as another breeze of the wind blew past. '_Damn it! How many more days do we have left on this mountain?' _Sakura pondered for a while and finally remembered the days, '_Six days.'_

Night had already fallen, and the cloud-covered stars shone brightly; where they couldn't be seen. Sakura threw her head up and watched as the dim streetlight flooded the area. She could hear footsteps behind her. Multiple heavy and loud footsteps. "Sakura-chan!" called Rock Lee loudly.

Sakura looked up, surprised to see four other chuunins. "Hi Lee, Chouji, Kiba, Shino," she greeted, "What brings you here?"

"Ahh, we just went out for dinner. Ino and Shikamaru were supposed to come along too. But then Ino practically dragged Shikamaru away, insisting that she wasn't hungry. You know how she gets when she doesn't get her way. So then Shikamaru agreed to go along with her." Kiba gave his beloved dog a pat on his head.

The pink haired teenager nodded, "Yah, I know how she gets."

"So why are here, all alone, Sakura-chan?" Lee asked with concern.

Sakura paused for a moment. What was she suppose to say? That she went out on a date, and ditched the guy there because he was being an ass? Plus, Lee had just gotten his crush over her, less than a year ago.

"Well, I was actually on the date—" she began, but glanced over at Lee's crestfallen face. "—but he was so rude, so I just ditched him there," she finished off quickly.

Rock Lee brightened at her last sentence. "Who was the guy?"

"Oh, um, the guy that was my date for the dance."

They looked at her obliviously.

"The dance we went to a couple nights ago," she clarified.

"Oh!" exclaimed Lee, "That one! I forgot all about it. Well, my date… she sort of ran away from me."

Sakura bit her lip and looked away from Lee. She couldn't exactly think of something positive to say to a person whose date ran away from them.

Kiba looked at Rock Lee with an obvious expression on his face. "You're date actually _ran _away from you?" He began laughing, "Man, that's one of the funniest thing that I've heard in a while." Kiba hooted.

Lee didn't say anything; his eyes were downcast. "Well, at least I didn't break any windows in the few days that we've been here."

Sakura gave a shaky laugh, "Um, well… we don't really see much of Hinata and Naruto anymore, do we?"

Chouji smiled, "Nah, they're too busy spending time with each other."

"They're so cute together!" Lee joined in.

Kiba's eyes lowered, and he clenched his fists. "Do you really think so?" he said evenly.

"Yeah."

"Do you _approve _of their relationship?" Kiba seethed, his voice was beginning to get bitter.

"I do. They're perfect together," Sakura answered calmly.

She half expected Kiba to shoot back an answer. He didn't though. The five continued walking, ignoring the presence of awkwardness that clung in the heavy air. Thankfully, the lodge was near.

Kiba's eyes were fixed straight ahead. Staring at the distant lodge. '_No, they shouldn't be together. They can't be together. I can't believe that she's with him instead of being with me. She should be with me. I've supported her all along. I've been a good friend. I—" _Kiba's reverie was cut off. They were already at the doorstep.

Lee roughly took his keys and shoved it into the keyhole. The door swung open easily. They stepped into the front hall and began to take off their shoes, coats, and mittens.

Sakura took off her toque and clutched it in her hands. "I'm a bit hungry. I didn't get to eat dinner. I'll go see what's in the kitchen to eat," Sakura informed them as she began to walk down the hallway, and into the kitchen.

"Oh," Lee began, "I'm going to take a shower then." Lee started up the stairs, quickly sneaking a glance down at the agitated Kiba.

"T.V." Chouji said, muffled. There was a loud crinkling of the empty foil potato bag.

Shino just gave a curt nod and he too, went up the stairs.

Kiba stood there. Making sure that all their footsteps had faded away. He strained his ears. Nothing. A slight smile appeared on his face as he hushed Akamaru. Kiba tiptoed to the living room; Naruto and Hinata were obviously there. They always were, weren't they? He gently pressed his ears to the firmly closed door. He could hear Naruto say something. He couldn't distinguish what the words were though. Naruto's voice paused, and he could hear Hinata's delicate laughter.

Kiba leaned closer to the door, hoping for a chance to hear Naruto's words. He could faintly hear them now.

"I'm hungry," he could hear Naruto say, "Do you want ramen?"

"I-I'm not sure. Let's just see what's in the kitchen."

"Sure."

Kiba's eyes shot wide as they headed his way. He quietly dashed away from the door guiltily and peered into the room next door. The door was open, and Kiba dashed in. To his surprise, the room was empty. He gave a small sigh of relief and closed the door shut before he plopped down onto the couch.

* * *

Sakura took out a cup and filled it with cold water from the fridge. She perched her arms on the counter and took a sip of the cool water. She could hear the hushed voices of Hinata and Naruto. A smile crept onto her face. They were so adorable together. Cute was one word that described them. Perfect was another. 

The voices got louder as the two entered the room. "Hi," the roseate kunoichi called.

"Hi Sakura-chan," Hinata said softly.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted, "We were-well, I was hungry, so I wanted some ramen. Hinata told me that she was sick of ramen. I'm not sure about you; but I'm never sick of ramen. It's the best thing that was ever invented, you know?"

"You know that I get sick of ramen. I'm always sick of ramen."

Naruto looked down, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"W-well, we can go get some pizza or something," Hinata suggested.

"I… well, I'm kinda short on money right now," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "So—"

"Oh, it's okay! I'll treat this time. Don't worry."

Naruto's face immensely brightened, "Really?"

"Yah."

"Thanks so much Hinata-chan!"

"You're welcome." Hinata began to take out a heap of untouched take-out menus that were stacked neatly on top of each other on the counter. She flipped through them, scanning for a nearby pizza place.

She easily found one and pulled it out. "Here's one. It's pretty close. They deliver, so easier for us!"

"Is there a ramen-flavoured pizza?" Naruto questioned, "Preferably shrimp flavoured, please."

Both Sakura and Hinata looked at him and blinked.

"Ramen shrimp-flavoured pizza? Where did you get _that _idea?"

"I had it once," he answered back blithely.

"Where did you find ramen shrimp-flavoured pizza?"

"Ahh, I think Iruka-sensei made it for me once. It was pretty good. He tried it as an experiment, but he didn't like it much, so he never made it again," Naruto paused, his face in resentment, "Actually, Iruka-sensei hated it."

"I don't think they have shrimp ramen-flavoured pizza though."

"Oh, it's okay. Just order something else than."

"How about Hawaiian? Or maybe deluxe? Hmm, here's one that sounds interesting," Sakura told them.

"Cool, what's in it?" Naruto asked joyfully.

Sakura passed him the menu. Naruto quickly scanned it. Fajita: grilled chicken, mozzarella, green and red peppers, salsa, and cheddar. "Okay, if you want it," he said happily, "It sounds yummy though."

"O-okay, I'll go order," Hinata said quietly.

"Thanks!" Sakura exclaimed as she drained the glass of water.

She could hear Hinata's soft voice in the next room, and Naruto's feet pacing back and forth on the kitchen floor. Sakura put down the now empty glass onto the large table with a hollow clank. She looked around the room, before her eyes landed onto the loud ticking clock. She watched it momentarily before turning her attention back on the spirited blonde.

"Naruto," she called.

As restless as he was, he stopped pacing. "Yeah?" he answered.

She motioned him to lean forward. "Did you spend all your money on the sleigh trip with Hinata?" she whispered.

"Well, kind of. I have some money leftover though. Not much though."

Sakura smiled sympathetically, "Well, I'm glad that you did spend the money on the sleigh trip, instead of ramen. Hinata was so happy."

"Yah, I kn—" he stopped short when he heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it," Naruto said, as he began to walk cheerfully to the door.

He stood behind the locked door, his hand on the doorknob. "Who is it?" he called. It was one of the first things he learned from Iruka. _Always ask who's there, before opening the door._

"Neji and Tenten," a deep voice called back.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Neji sighed at the annoying blond. The annoying blond that was _going out _with his cousin.

He swung open the door. The air escaped into the once warm enclosed room. Naruto peeked out the door and watched the snow fall for a few moments, "Wow, it really is coming down hard outside."

"Yah, it is," Tenten said with a sigh, "It's freezing as well. It's as if the temperature dropped 10 degrees."

Naruto cocked his head, "How cold is it outside anyways?"

"I don't know. Negative twenty degre—"

"—Tenten, you have snow in your hood," Neji pointed out.

"Oh, could you help me get it out, please?"

She stepped outside the door and watched as Neji flipped over her hood, and watched the snow fall delicately onto the ground. "Oh, and you have snow in your hair, Neji-kun."

He swatted some snow off his hair playfully.

Naruto stood there obliviously as he watched Neji pinch her lightly on her arm.

"Are you guys coming in?" Naruto asked. '_I thought she said that it was freezing outside.'_

"Oh, um, yeah," Neji muttered, his face slightly tinged pink, "Sorry about that."

"We're ordering pizza! Well, Hinata's ordering. It should be arriving sometime soon."

Neji remained motionless at the mention of the name 'Hinata.'

"That's great!" Tenten said easily as she shrugged off her jacket.

Naruto turned around as he felt a familiar presence. "Hinata-chan!"

"Hi Naruto-kun, Neji-san, and Tenten-chan," she smiled and spoke softly, "I-i just finished ordering the pizza. W-well, I ordered two in case the others want some. "

"Great! Shame there wasn't the ramen flavoured pizza though," his voice broke off as he caught Neji and Tenten looking at his strangely. He had a maniacal love for ramen; surely they all knew that. Yet, they still, that weird look wore upon their faces.

"Oh, um, I never tried ramen pizza, so I shouldn't really be having an opinion about it; but it sounds a bit… odd." Tenten looked at Naruto apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, everyone today was like that. They all had that face that screamed, '_are you insane?' _or something. Well, it actually wasn't that bad."

* * *

Kakashi sat down around the large kitchen table. His infamous orange paperback book was propped on the table. He gave a smile underneath his mask as he surveyed the chuunins that sat cheerfully/moodily around the table. His eyes rested on Naruto and the quiet girl who sat beside her. Who would have thought that Hinata and Naruto would be together, of all people? '_Well, if Naruto can get a girlfriend, I suppose there's still hope for Sasuke.' _He heard what Ino had called Sasuke the other day to Sakura. She said it jokingly of course, just to make the pink-haired kunoichi feel better. 

"_Heartless bastard."_

Another smirk appeared underneath his mask. His tummy grumbled. '_Damn it, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since lunch. Where is the pizza?'_

"The pizza's coming, Kakashi-sensei," Lee said happily, as if reading his thoughts.

The silver-haired man looked at him quizzically.

"Oh, I could hear your stomach growl," Lee said, "When's the last time you ate?"

"Lunch," he admitted.

"You shouldn't starve yourself Kakashi-sensei," Sakura sighed.

He looked up, "I wasn't starving myself. I have a very big appetite, you know what I mean?"

Sakura looked at him strangely, "No I didn't know, maybe because you never take off that damn mask of yours!"

"Are you trying to trick me into taking my mask off?"

"No," Sakura said flatly.

The doorbell rang and a happy smile appeared on the ex-ANBU's face. "Finally," he sighed happily as he watched as Hinata got up to retrieve the goods.

A few minutes later, Hinata came back, and the fumes of the pizza were wafting into the large kitchen. "Smells good!" Lee exclaimed merrily as he took a slice.

Naruto sat there for a moment staring at the pizzas. "I'd rather have ramen," he said blankly.

"Naruto, if someone treats you for food, you graciously eat."

The loud shinobi raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, "Yeah, and it would be polite to eat slowly instead of finishing the food in seconds Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto stared expectantly at Kakashi to take off his mask. '_Maybe he really does have fish lips,' _he thought with a smirk.

"I don't take my mask off for anyone," he said firmly. Kakashi took a couple slices in a napkin. "I'm going to eat in my room."

The eyes of the chuunins followed Kakashi as he left. As soon as he was out of earshot, Naruto spoke, "Damn it! He does this all the time! We never get to find out what he's really hiding behind his mask." His voice dropped, "Do you think that he really has fish lips?"

"Nah, it's not very likely," Lee said.

"You never know," the loud ninja pointed out.

"I suppose," Lee trailed off as he wiped his hands on the paper towel.

"Maybe he has really horrible acne," Tenten whispered.

"I don't really want to think about horrible acne while we're eating, okay?" Kiba muttered irritably; still pissed off from the scene earlier on that day.

"Sure." Naruto shrugged as he got up and rinsed his hands. He gave Hinata and wide grin before heading out the room.

Hinata blushed a deep shade of read, oblivious to Kiba who continued to stare at his glass of soda with a blank look in his eyes. Hinata willed herself to take the dopey smile off her face. She glanced around the table and again blushed as she saw the many pairs of eyes on her, but excluding Kiba, of course.

"I-is there something on my face?" she questioned nervously. Instantly, half of them averted their gaze. It was almost funny to watch how they reacted to her simple questioned.

"No, of course not!" Tenten cooed.

"What is it then?" she asked, not believing what Tenten just said.

"Well," she began jovially, "it's just that you blush so much whenever Naruto's around. It's really cute actually!"

Kiba took the last bite of his food; completely ignoring the entire conversation around him. He stood up suddenly with his empty dishes in hand. Kiba gave them all one last glare before deposing his dishes in the sink, and stalking out the kitchen.

There was an awkward pause for a moment. "So," there was another pause from Tenten, "what was I saying again?"

"How cute it is when Hinata blushes whenever Naruto's around," the tall man with the sunglasses spoke suddenly. Shino pushed his sunglasses that were beginning to slide down his nose a bit.

Tenten glanced at Shino. It was seldom that he would speak outloud. "Oh, okay thanks. I just forgot," she said cordially.

They could hear the front door slam. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in thought; it seemed like there was even more anger.

Ino entered the room. "Hi!" she exclaimed. Ino glanced at the unhealthy food for a moment, "You don't really eat that stuff, do you? It usually results you into getting fat—" Ino broke off as she glanced around sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm babbling again."

No, the loud slam wasn't a consequence of anger. It was just Ino, 'closing' the door.

Shikamaru walked in next, his hair slightly askew. "Finally, some food." Shikamaru reached for a slice, and took a large bite.

"You know that's going to make you fat, right?"

Shikamaru shrugged, his mouth still full of food. "Your point being?"

"It's going to make you fat," she repeated.

The lazy ninja swallowed. "It's not likely. I have fast metabolism," he said as he patted his stomach.

"Well it's still not good for you."

He shrugged again. "It tastes good."

Ino gave a jovial laugh, "So you just eat it if it tastes good? If shit tasted good, would you eat it?"

"Shit doesn't taste good, so this isn't really going anywhere."

"I'm saying _if._ _If _it tasted good, would you eat it?"

"It doesn't really matter _if _it tastes good. It doesn't, so end of story."

"Whatever," she said flatly, "What happened to Kiba anyways? I just saw him as we came in; you could practically see the steam coming out of his ears."

"Oh, well that's another story."

* * *

A/N: Finally, I finished writing this chapter! I'm so sorry about the long update! This chapter took me more than a month to write, and it's spring break, so I don't even have school at the moment. I'd like to thank everyone for reading, and a **huge thanks** to everyone who has been reviewing! I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing all this if it wasn't for all of you. So again, thank you! 

Thanks so much for my beta, **evil-mittens**! Thanks for fixing up my sucky grammar and everything else that sucks.

I didn't really like bolding the entire penname, so I hope bolding just the first letter would be a little better…

**A**nimEvivvErz- Thanks so much for writing an essay of a review! I appreciate it so much! I kind of threw Kiba into this chapter, which makes him even more jealous about Hinata and Naruto then Sasuke was when Sakura was Aniro. Raining one day, and then sunny the next? I hate it when that happens. Haha, about weather… just the other day, it was raining, hailing, and sunny all in one day. That was the weirdest thing ever. (I hope you update your stories soon! I love them!)  
**D**ragon man 180- Yes! Aniro got dumped! Thanks for the review!  
**M**oonlightpath- There was some Neji and Tenten fluff in this chapter, not that much though. Sorry about that! I'll try to put more in the next chapter. I'm really sorry about the long update as well!  
**D**irewold1427- I don't think I really understand, because I don't think I mentioned that I was a beta reader. I was thanking my beta reader who changed her penname. I hope this cleared things up. Thanks for the review!  
**W**arprince2000, **D**estiny852, **E**puneyujah, **K**agome1015, **S**ephynarutocloud, **R**yunanashi, **L**on3ly-st4, **A**lpha no kaze, **S**asusaku, **P**rincessChii, **W**aterfox96- Thanks for the reviews! Sorry about the long update!  
**H**inata-hime, **T**wilight, **K**aumii, **S**erenity- Thanks for the review! The SasuSaku moments will be here a little later. I'm planning on them being the last pairing to really get together, so that'll be after Shikamaru and Ino get together.  
**B**rokenAngel,ForgivenDevil- Haha, good! I kind of did neglect Sakura in the end though. Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoyed the Naruto and Hinata moments in this chapter!  
**J**ai0r0ku- Yes! I updated! I'm so sorry about the long update. What has happened to Aniro? Well, he went… I don't really know why I put that in there. It just seemed to fit with the plot. I guess it's because she's a kunoichi.  
**H**arukakanata- I love that song! Haruka Kanata. Haha, thanks for reviewing! I really like your Flowers Collection fic!


	14. Chapter fourteen

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter fourteen  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Sasuke sat still at his post. The snow-covered bush covered his entire body. The wet snow was beginning to damp his pants. Sasuke squatted solemnly still, occasionally sneaking a peak at the empty shovelled road to the lodge. He knew that _she _and Aniro wouldn't be back so soon, but he didn't want to miss it. '_I swear, if he lays one finger on her…'_

Sasuke gave a silent sigh and looked up into the piercing sky. He didn't even know why he was doing this. The snow was still falling; blinding his eyes. Sasuke squinted a bit at the massive clouds above him. Night would fall soon. Sasuke dug his boots deeper into the snow. Sasuke paused sensed some familiar charka: Sakura's, Lee's, Kiba's, Shino's, and possibly Chouji's.

He stayed rigidly still as he heard their footsteps near. It was rather odd; he couldn't hear any chatter at all. Sasuke carefully peered over the bushes and watched as the five people walked silently down the road. She was back _already_. Without that Aniro guy, but instead, she was accompanied with four other _single _and certainly eligible guys.

Sasuke continued to watch them trudge along the slow, almost mournfully. He was unaware that his eyes were narrowing more by every passing second. Sasuke shifted his weight to his left foot; temporarily relieving his right foot.

He didn't expect this. What he expected was more like Sakura coming home a few hours later, with that what's his face. She'd be giggling and having a good time. The 'perfect' night would end with a good night kiss.

Good thing that he was bad at making prophecies.

* * *

Shikamaru walked down the narrow hallway, heading back to the living room, where he had last seen Ino there, curled up on the sofa, writing in some sort of notebook. He looked back at the now empty room with a pensive look on his face. He sat down at the same spot where Ino had just been.

Ino wasn't exactly a person that most people would have thought that he'd get along with. Firstly, she was persistant, a bit too loud for his own taste, and care too much of what others thought.

Yet, they were friends. Close friends, he could even say. From the beginning, since their genin days, there had been a sort of connection between the two of them. Not the connection of best friends like Chouji and himself, but something entirely different.

Shikamaru looked back down and spotted a spiral notebook wedged between two of the sofa cushions. He picked it up ginegerly and read the words scrawled on it. "Property of Yamanaka Ino," he whispered to himself.

This grabbed his attention. He flipped through the pages. It seemed to be some sort of journal or diary.

* * *

Tenten sat on her bed; fingering Neji's hand gently. "I want to go home," she sighed. She got up abruptly and glanced out the snow-covered window. 

"Yah." Neji agreed. "It's coming down pretty hard."

"You make it sound as if it were raining, not snowing."

"It'll rain when we get back to Konoha," he said darkly. Neji's face brightened as Tenten turned around and gave him a distained smile.

"Don't say that! It might come true."

"It'll rain eventually," Neji pointed out, still staring fixedly on the door.

Tenten stayed silent and connected his gaze. "Why do you keep staring at the door?" she asked in a slight demanding manner. "You're not thinking of leaving, are you?"

A graceful smirked appeared on Neji's face. "Leave without you?" He forged a look of surprise. "I would never do that," he whispered slyly.

Tenten gave a laugh, pleased that Neji was opening up to her. She bent over and gave a swift peck on his cheeks. "You're too sweet," she joked jovially, "We'll all be so out of shaped when we actually get home and start training again. I felt so out of it when we were training earlier on today."

"Yah," Neji concurred, mechanically wiping the spot where she gave him the peck.

"It's even too cold to going skiing now," Tenten grimaced, "I feel like hot chocolate. Do you want some?"

"No thanks. I don't really like chocolate much."

"Oh yah… I'm sorry, I forgot about that." Tenten looked at him sheepishly.

Neji said absently, "It's okay."

"Oh, okay. Would you like anything?"

"Maybe some tea."

"Okay, I'll be back soon," she said as she pranced happily out the door.

"Who is leaving now?" he called after the talkative woman that stood before him.

Tenten stuck her head back in and puckered her brow. "If you say that again, I won't get your precious tea," she said in a slightly whiny matter.

"It's only tea."

The brown-haired brunette had an urge to stick her tongue out at him, but resisted. "You're annoying me, but I'll be nice today, and get your tea for you anyways."

She heard Neji grumble thanks as she walked down the stairs, two steps at a time.

The kitchen was empty, and the dishes from the pizza earlier on were stacked disorderly around the sink. Tenten sighed inwardly and opened the cupboard and took out the can of powdered hot chocolate and a teabag. She put a few spoonfuls of the brown coco powder into a cup, and the teabag into the other. She absently filled up the old kettle with some water and waited for it to boil.

'_Things have been weird lately. First, Neji and I started to go out. Then Hinata and Naruto got together. They're really cute together, actually,' _she added as an afterthought, '_and now, it seems as if Shikamaru and Ino might get together. Well, they kind of fight a lot, so I'm not so sure how that'll work out. Everyone's getting together.'_

She felt sorry for Sakura. Sakura had been so excited about the date with Aniro, and he turned out to be everything that she disliked. He even turned out to be worse than Sasuke, who Sakura claimed to hate.

The low hum of the kettle got her attention back onto the electric appliance. The humming increased, and got louder. She pulled off the plug and partially poured the steaming liquid into the mugs. She paused and stirred occasionally before filling the rest. Tenten quickly added some milk and sugar to the tea, and brought the hot drinks up back to her room.

She placed the drinks down on the clean desk. "Here." She motioned to the tea.

"Thanks," he said appreciatively, "what will your parents say when they find out about _us_?"

Tenten blinked, "oh, they'll probably just approve of you. My parents actually like you. They think you're-" Tenten gave a small snort, "polite, handsome, and a 'true gentleman.' I don't really think they know you that well, Neji." She gave him a smile. "Well, maybe they got the handsome part right, but the rest? I'm not _too_ sure."

Neji sat there stonily, "I am polite and a true gentleman," he disagreed, "I treated you out to dinner, I open the door for you, and let you go in first…"

"Well, I was the one who got tea for you, just then. Anyways, I don't want to argue with you, but I've been wanting to ask, what will your family think of us?"

Neji paused at her directness. "I'm part of the branch family; my decisions are not as important."

"Haha, right. You're like the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. I'm pretty sure that they will care. I assure you that." Tenten raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for his reply.

She waited.

He remained silent.

* * *

Ino flung herself onto her bed and gave an irritated groan. '_Damn Shikamaru and his annoyingness. Why should I even put up with him?' _She sat up and raked her fingers down her hair, untangling her long hair. She gave an angered sniff. '_Oh, yah, because I so-call like him.' _If this was what love was supposed to be like, it was irksome. 

There was a knock on the door. Ino stared at it beadily and remained quiet.

"I know you're in there, Ino," Shikamaru called through gritted teeth, "Just unlock the door, okay?"

This was so cliché.

"Now, why would I want to do that?" Ino asked calmly, aware of how annoyed Shikamaru would get. '_Serves that idiot right.'_

Shikamaru could feel his blood begin the boil. "I want to talk." He tried again.

"Hm, well you picked the wrong time. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day to talk. Hm? What do you say?" she asked in the same composed matter.

"I only want to talk," Shikamaru said through gritted teeth, trying to reason with the stubborn blonde.

Ino gave a huff. "I told you; you picked the wrong time," she said coldly.

"What did I do to deserve you treating me like this?" he asked exasperatedly. '_Damn woman,' _he though miserably. It always seemed that his father was wrong about them.

"I wouldn't be treating you like this is if you didn't go knocking on my door, then badgering me to open the door to talk to you, and you know what? You didn't even deserve an explanation. Go figure it out yourself. I heard you have a huge-ass IQ. Go use it."

Shikamaru stayed still at her rudeness. He never did anything to her. Unless that the crappy explanation of him knocking at her door, then supposedly "badgering" her to open it was the reason. '_Must be PMS,' _Shikamaru thought with a grunt.

Shikamaru could hear his voice going hoarse and he raised his voice, "I just wanted to say-"

"Say what?" her voice echoing the same rudeness as Shikamaru's.

"I-" his voice faltered, "I just wanted to say," he paused, "that I really like you," he blurted out.

Shikamaru squinted his eyes shut tightly and took some rapid uneven breaths of air. Why did he say that? That wasn't even the reason why he came to talk to her. He was never supposed to say that out load. Ever. He could feel the blood rush from his face. What would Ino say? What would she think of him? She already had far too many men out there that fancied her, but he liked her for real. He knew her. He even could actually stand her most of the time.

"Leave me alone," Ino said coldly, but a small grin crept onto her face.She knew it. She knew he liked her, and now, she proven herself right. He did. She didn't know what to think. Sure, having a boyfriend like Shikamaru would be pretty great, but spending the rest of her life with him? She didn't want to have to hurt him in the end. She had known him since she started training at the academy, and ruining a friendship of that long for a relationship wasn't worth it.

Ino waited as she heard Shikamaru give an infuriated sigh, and his footsteps finally faded. Ino stood up and walked over to the closet and began to rummage around a massive amount of assorted clothes, and other garments that occupied the space. She pulled out her travel case after clearing some clothes off it. The young kunoichi carefully unzipped the large oblong gear and peered into it, looking for a certain object.

She groped around a bit. She knew she left it at the bottom of the suitcase. She had it just yesterday morning. Ino exasperatedly began to unzip all the zippers and prodding into the pockets. She knew she left it somewhere. Ino was positive that she put it in there.

Not giving up, she began to search the small, and untidy room. '_Maybe I left it in Sakura's suitcase by mistake. I should probably ask her before looking through it.'_

Ino poked her head out the doorframe. "Sakura," she called loudly down the stairs.

She waited a few seconds before she got a hurried reply. "Yeah?"

"Come upstairs. I need to ask you something."

"Just a moment."

Ino sat back down on the cluttered floor and absently brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes. '_Where could I have put it? I'm pretty sure I putted it back properly.'_

Sakura came into the room a few minutes later. "What did you want to ask?"

"I think I might have left something in your suitcase by accident. Could I check if it's there, please?" she asked hastily.

"Oh," Sakura began, "sure. What did you loose?"

"My diary," she said through gritted teeth as she already started to swiftly delve the other girl's suitcase.

She looked up abruptly. "It's not here," she said out of breath.

"Here, I'll help you look. It has to be around here somewhere." She motioned to the messy room. "We should have kept it more neat. My mom would have killed me if my room looked like this."

Ino, feeling slightly calmed down, nodded. "My mom would make me clean it up, and then she would kill me. She tells me to clean up my room like, everything other day or something. Of course I don't always listen to her…"

Ino trailed off, and began to pick up some stray clothes on the floor, while looking for her book.

"Is it a locked diary?" Sakura asked heedlessly.

"No. It's really just a book."

"You don't lock your diary?"

"'Course not! Who's going to read it? My mom?" she gave a laugh.

"Well, we're stuck on a snowy mountain with fourteen other people. Maybe some _suspicious _people as well?"

Ino sighed. "Look, if you're talking about Kakashi, I doubt that he knows that I even keep a diary."

Sakura hung a shirt onto a hanger. "What does your 'diary without a lock' look like, anyways?"

"Well, it's pretty plain. It's just a regular black notebook, with a silver coiled binding."

Sakura paused and searched her brain. "I've seen it," she said quietly.

Ino looked up. "Really? Where? Did you see it today? I think I lost it yesterday morning, but-"

Sakura cut her off. "--I saw Shikamaru with it."

"Fuck," Ino hissed, "that ass has officially fucked up my life. I actually fucking wrote in there, that I-never mind."

Sakura bit her lips, not daring to move away from the outrageous blonde. "I'm sure he didn't read it," she said cautiously. She didn't want Ino to hurt him… again.

"Anyways," her tone suddenly turned to false brightness, "Be right back. I just have a few things to deal with."

Sakura gave Ino a meek smile before watching her flaunt out the door. She should have just taken the diary back from Shikamaru, then she could hide it somewhere, and magically find it. She didn't want to be the cause of him getting hurt.

Sakura sat there silently, listening to Ino's footsteps. '_I hope she doesn't hurt him too bad. A few bruises won't be to hard to mend, but if she breaks his ribs…'_

Sakura could hear them arguing now. She knew that she shouldn't have listened in on them, but it _was_ partially her fault. She was the one who ratted on him, even though what he did wasn't right.

"Well, at least I found out the truth," she could hear Shikamaru say audibly. He seemed to have lost his usual drawl.

"What did you find out? That I like you? Well, I'm sorry, but give me back my diary and I'll write in it again, and then you'll see how much I like you." Ino's voice penetrated throughout the walls.

Sakura could see Rock Lee walked past her bedroom, before stopping by the stairs, waiting for Shikamaru's response.

"You don't mean that," Shikamaru said with a hint of softness in his voice.

"I do mean it."

"No you don't. I know you better than you think." If only they would stop fighting, maybe they would actually get a chance to tell the truth to each other.

"You don't know me better by reading my diary."

"It's not from reading your diary." He really didn't want to start a whole new argument with her.

"Then what is it?" she growled.

"I just know you," he said stoutly.

"Do you stalk me or something?"

Shikamaru scoffed, "Of course not." Shikamaru looked distained.

Ino gripped the end of her hair and looked over at Shikamaru with vindictiveness. "Why do you piss me off so much?"

"You should ask your hormones," Shikamaru grumbled, only loud enough for his own ears to hear. "Look, I know you because I do. I've known you for years. I know what you like to eat, and how you like to eat, where you shop, how you clean your room, your relationship with people around you, and how you feel around them. I even know-"

"Okay. Stop," Ino said, her face pensive, "just stop." She clenched her long mane even more firmly.

Amazingly, even for someone as stubborn as Shikamaru, he stopped talking.

"Look, you're right," she whispered, "I do have feelings for you. Both you and I know it. Known it, even. I'm sorry. Maybe we can make this work, but I don't want to argue right now." She meant it. After all these years of neglected of telling Shikamaru the truth of how she felt, she finally said it aloud. She admitted it.

A smile crept onto the brunette's face. "I knew it," he said with triumph. He leaned over to her and embraced her tightly. "For once, you don't want to argue."

Ino could smell the sweet scent of his shirt as her head was pressed against his chest. "You make it sound as if it were a debate or something."

"Well, every argument between us is like war," he said thoughtfully, "We yearn to win."

Ino rolled her eyes, then laughed. "Well, of course I feel I have to win. Losing against you would be so embarrassing."

"Unless we're playing shougi," he pointed out. He sure wasn't his usual lazy self today.

"That _doesn't _count. What chance do I have of winning a match against _you?_"

Shikamaru smirked. "None," he said defiantly.

* * *

A/N: Phew! I've finally finished! Again, I'm extremely sorry that it took me about… four weeks to update. Well, I suppose that's faster than the last update, but it's still far overdue. Again, I'd like to thank all the readers, and all the reviewers for everything. I never would have thought that I would have made it this far, and with this many reviews. So, thank you! 

We're nearing the end! (A few more chapters, I think) The last chapter will probably be Sakura and Sasuke finally getting together.

I would like to thank my beta, **e**_vil-mittens. _

Oh, and one more thing. In case you were wondering why Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba are completely neglected in this chapter, it's because I couldn't find somewhere where they would fit in nicely. I promise that next chapter, you'll be sure to see more of them. Sorry about that!

**D**ragon Man 180 - Hm, nothing drastic happened with Naruto and Hinata. I'm sorry that I couldn't incorporate them into the chapter. I felt bad for not mentioning Sasuke in the last chapter, so I started on his view first. Hm, and maybe some certain shinobis/kunoichis will be kicking Aniro's ass. Thanks for the review!  
**M**oonlightpath; **B**rokenAngel,ForgivenDevil; **R**edLotusNin and IceHunterNin; **T**imeshifter; **W**aFFleS; **H**inata-hime - Thanks for the review! Sorry for neglecting Sasuke in the last chapter, I hope this one somewhat made up for that. Hm, and I really do need to do something about Kiba. An OC might work.  
**D**estiny852; **w**arprince2000; **S**ephynarutocloud; **S**pringninja; **K**agome1015; **J**ai0rOku; **P**andora the vamprire; **S**evetenks the ultimate F- Thanks for the review! Sorry for the slow updates!  
**J**oecool4 - Thanks so much for the review! I like your fanfic! I hope you continue! (I'm really sorry, I hope I didn't nag you too much about your story!)  
**A**nimEvivvErz- Hm, where do I start? Thanks so much for the incredibly long review! (or essay!) You're too kind. I love pinky swear. I was tearing up reading it. Yah, I like the rain too. As long as I don't have to walk home in the rain. (call me lazy, but that's how I am.) It's actually super hot where I live, at the moment. I'm sure that a lot of people that live in warmer areas would say that I'm crazy. I'm not used to hot weather at the moment… Sorry for abandoning Sasuke in the last chapter! I hope this somewhat makes up for it! (Well, I neglected Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba, so it most likely won't) haha. They'll be in the next chapter. I promise. Thanks again!  
**2**00 IQ- Please, try not to swear abusively when you review. I don't know where to start with this. Your review confuses me. I'm going to try to be nice, but really, I clearly stated all the pairings of the story in the summary. If you have a big problem with the pairings, then please don't read it. If you're so pissed that everyone's pairing Sasuke and Sakura, and Ino and Shikamaru up, then again stop reading the stories that state those pairings in the summary. Don't go complaining about it, just because you don't like the pairings. Everyone has his or her own opinions, these are mine. This is _fan fiction_, in case that slipped your mind. Sasuke is back and I didn't put an AU in the summary because I planned and wrote this story before Sasuke even left. (I was only watching the anime at that point, and the anime wasn't even that far in) I assure you, Naruto knows more words then Sasuke-bastard, Sakura-chan, and ramen. One more thing, what you said about Sakura and Sasuke: _"placing them together in such a vain fucking relationship."_ This makes me ponder if you're even reviewing for the right story or if you opened your mouth a little bit too early before reading it. At this point of the story, Sakura and Sasuke are currently not in a relationship together. I could go on, but I won't. I'm not going to waste my time. If you do read this, don't review. I'd rather be left in peace.  
**B**lue jasmine- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it! Hm, I sent you an e-mail, but since it'syou have ahotmail account, I think it might have gone straight to your junk-email, and it probably got deleted. I'll send you another one if you want, just drop a note.

I'm sorry for the huge authors note! I'll stop now. Again, thanks so much for reading!


	15. Chapter fifteen

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter fifteen  
By cocoa-latte

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

* * *

A hyperactive blonde walked over to the living room, with a little bounce to his stride. The sun had risen just a few hours earlier, and it was currently shining brightly above the grey clouds that hid the yellow rays of sunshine. 

To his surprise, a silver-haired man sat cross-legged on the couch, with his perverted orange book propped on his lap. "Hey, Kakashi," Naruto called.

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Hm?" he acknowledged Naruto.

"Since we're leaving for Konoha tomorrow morning—"

Kakashi cut him off. "We're going out for dinner tonight; I'm sorry, but no ramen for you tonight. It'll do you good." Kakashi dropped his voice; "Even I'm starting to feel queasy, eating ramen all the time."

Naruto gave Kakashi a reproaching look. "You don't see _me _getting sick! I eat ramen all the time!"

The jounin raised his eyebrows. "I was talking about me feeling queasy, not you. I'm pretty sure that I know how you can stomach ramen."

Naruto ignored his comment. "So," he began, "do we all have to go tonight? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that a few of us will be all right not going, and it'll probably will be easier for whomever's treating tonight. Don't you think?"

Reversed psychology never worked well for Naruto.

"I don't think so."

Naruto turned to leave. "Whatever, it's our last meal- well, second last, if you count breakfast tomorrow. I guess I'll come, but when we get back to Konoha, I'll never have to deal with all of you again."

He heard Kakashi say, "True" as he left.

Naruto began walking up the stairs, and headed towards his room. The hallway was eerily silent, for some odd reason. He shuddered at the coldness of the floor, as the chilly heat seeped through his socks, penetrating his toes.

He could see a faint shadow in the dark corner. The tall figured moved sideways, and let some of the light hit his face.

"Hyuuga," Naruto said as Neji gave him a glare.

"Uzumaki." Neji's voice was cold.

Naruto, hearing the tone of Neji's voice, too, hardened his eyes. '_What's up with this guy?' _Naruto thought.

"Now, I'm warning you: if you hurt Hinata-san, you'll be sorry."

Neji left abruptly leaving Naruto to fend his overwhelming thoughts himself. He realized that Neji left out the usual "-sama" suffix when he said Hinata's name. For someone who had just newly initiated love, Neji sure was bland to other people's affection for each other. Couldn't he see that he actually loved her? This wasn't just a fling between the two of them; this was truly real.

Naruto could hear murmuring behind Sakura's and Ino's room. He hesitantly knocked a few times.

"Feel free to come in a help us pack!" he heard Ino called, followed by Sakura's laughter.

He pushed open the door. It only moved a crack. "Um, I think you have something blocking the door," he called.

There was more laughter. He could hear the shifting of the large object. "Sorry," Ino began, "it was our suitcases. I almost forgot that I left it there."

Naruto nodded blankly and surveyed the room. Or what was supposed to be a room. Things were strewn across the room everywhere, and to think about it, they were only here less than two weeks. "Oh, I didn't remember you bringing so many clothes along," he said uncertainly.

"Well, if you pack well, you can fit so much more into you luggage. Well, we also went shopping yesterday, so yeah. There might seem to be more clothes than you would have thought."

They were awfully in good moods.

"Have you heard that we're going out for dinner tonight?"

"Um, yeah, I think so. I talked to Shikamaru earlier today, and he told me. I think this is actually the first time that we'll all go out for dinner," Ino answered jovially.

"Yeah, it is," Sakura chimed in.

"It's _so _much better than eating ramen all the time—"

"--I don't really mind ramen, you know what I mean?" said Naruto, cutting Ino off with a bit of a grin on his face.

"We know," Ino said flatly, sighing at Naruto's attempt at a "joke." They had gone through this many times before. "Are you going to help us pack? Or are you just going to stand around, distracting us. I don't really mind which, but if you choose the latter, than yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll end up packing all our things yourself."

"Oh, yah, okay. I'll help," Naruto muttered, completely forgetting that he somewhat, agreed to help them. He did open the door after all. Or, well, he attempted to. He looked around the disorganized area bitterly; their things were simply all over the place. "Your room is even messier than my house," Naruto said grimly. And he thought his own apartment was messy.

He paused. They didn't exactly expect him to pick up their (who knows if they're clean?) clothes, did they? There were their garments thrown all over the place! Thankfully, they had the sense of not keeping their undergarments in plain view.

"So, do you want me to pick up clothing off the floor? Or dust?"

"Doesn't really matter, as long as you're helping, it's good enough!"

"Okay," he agreed with a slight relief. I'll go get a duster or something."

Naruto left to search for a duster in the closet where the cleaning supplies were kept. He came back shortly with a damp cloth, and duster in his left hand.

"So, Naruto," the pink-hair chuunin began, "where's Hinata-chan?"

"Oh, well," he started off slowly, "I think she's in her room. Neji might have talked to her, because she doesn't seem as outgoing as she did yesterday, or any of the days before that."

Ino put another shirt into her suitcase. "Why do you think Neji talked to her, and not something else? I mean, it would seem pretty reasonable, since they're related and all, but I don't think Neji's really the type to go all the way to badger Hinata about something."

"He came up to me, too," he defended himself.

The other two stopped and looked at him expectantly to continue.

"It was only just before I came here, actually. He said something on the lines of: if I hurt Hinata-chan, I'll be sorry," said Naruto before taking a short albeit deep breath, "Doesn't he see that—" Naruto paused, he was still uncomfortable saying it out loud for the world to hear, "That, well, that I, you know… love her!"

There, he said it aloud. Finally. This time, it wasn't for Hinata's ears to hear, like it usually was, but to Sakura, and Ino. Nevertheless, he was making his point, wasn't he?

"I'm pretty sure he does, in some way or the other."

"I don't know. He doesn't seem to show his emotions very much."

"It's kind of like Sasuke, hmm? Well, of course it's not exactly the same story, but you know what I mean," Sakura said casually.

The way she said it really did hint that she wasn't completely over him. Her tone was far too light, and they could see her gripping the table rather tightly.

Ino blinked. She was surprised how open Sakura just was about Sasuke. More than often, she would have looked close to killing whenever Ino talked about him.

Sakura stared at Naruto and Ino expectantly, waiting for one of them to answer her.

Ino snapped back to reality. "Uh, yeah," she said, she hastily added, "We should get back to packing, you think? Or else we'll never get finished by tonight, and I don't want to have to wake up early tomorrow to finish."

"Yeah," Sakura concurred, "I don't want to have to get up early either. We also have to take a flight back home tomorrow, so I think that it'll be wise to try and get as much sleep as possible."

"I guess," Ino began, "Unless you want to take a nice long nap on the plane."

"That would be nice," Naruto butted in, feeling tired of being left out of the conversation.

The rest of the day and night seemed like a blur, more than anything. Things that were expected, never exactly happened. Surprisingly enough, Ino, Sakura, and Naruto had finished packing and cleaning their rooms far faster than they had imagined. The two rooms looked rather empty, like how it was about two weeks ago, when they had first arrived.

The dinner was actual pleasant, with no unnecessary arguing, impoliteness, or even unexpected surprises. Everything was actually what people would classify as "normal," for once. Well, semi-normal, at least.

Even Kiba didn't mention a word about Naruto and Hinata being together.

Either they were all trying to make an effort of being civil, or it was one of those "once in a blue moon" things.

They had ended the night with an enormous ice cream cake; who knew where Asuma had gotten it? They ate until their bellies were full, and could not stomach anymore.

* * *

After reviewing all the things that had happened that night, Naruto turned over on his side, and fell into a deep doze. 

Hinata cracked open an eye. The sunlight was trickling into the room; through the windows, and was leaving an accountable amount of light in the room. The petite kunoichi squinted her eyes before pulling off her covers, and hoisted herself off the warm bed. She looked over to the other bed, and found her roommate of two weeks still slumbering away.

She would need to wake Tenten up soon, if they didn't want to be late. She crept over to the sleeping brunette, and gently nudged her. "Tenten-chan," she said in her quiet voice.

"Neji?" Tenten muttered; her eyes still closed. "I don't want to anymore ice cream, I'm still full." Hinata could hear Tenten say.

Hinata stifled a laugh, and nudged her a little harder.

Tenten sat up quickly. "Oh shoot, am I late? If I am, I'm really sor—" she cut off as she saw Hinata still in her pyjamas. Tenten groaned. She must have just made a fool out of herself. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan. I thought you were someone else. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"It's okay, and don't worry, I won't." Hinata promised. "I'll go brush my teeth first, okay?"

"Yah, sure. Thanks."

Hinata walked over to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth, and washed her face quickly, not wanting to hog the bathroom, and not let the others have a chance to get ready.

She flung open the bathroom door, and sure enough, there was Kiba standing there, next in line to the bathroom. "Good morning, Kiba-san," she said politely.

"Mornin'," Kiba said breezily, not taking a second look at Hinata, before he closed the door behind him.

Things were still weird.

Hinata walked back to her closed bedroom. She knocked hesitantly.

"Come in," Tenten called.

Hinata pushed the door open. Tenten had already gotten changed, made her bed, and all her belongings were already all packed up. That was pretty fast of her, considering that Hinata only took a short while for herself to solely brush her teeth, and wash her face.

"T-that was fast," she said truthfully.

"Well, yah. I suppose so. I don't want to be late, if you know what I mean."

Hinata nodded. "I better start soon, too. I don't want to make others wait."

"I hate making other people wait," Tenten said with a small sigh, "Anyways, I better get going."

* * *

Sasuke sat in his seat rigidly. They had already been on the plane home for a good eight hours already. The duration time of the flight was fifteen hours. Seven more painful hours, and they would all be through. Sasuke heard Naruto turn over on the seat beside him. 

"Sasuke." Naruto's face was pensive.

"What?" Sasuke crossed his arms.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"The clock is by the front of the plane. Go find the time yourself."

Naruto said defiantly, "The person in front of me is blocking the clock. Could you at least _please _take a look at the time?"

"It's five-thirty."

"Thanks." Naruto turned back over on his side.

Sasuke stayed silent, still staring at Naruto's upturned back. Even the unexpected dunce of Konoha had gotten himself a girlfriend. Sasuke could hear his heart beating abnormally loud. He turned around quickly to see if even Naruto could hear it. Naruto didn't move. He assumed that Naruto must have fallen asleep. Sasuke sighed. He was just being paranoid now.

_He_ was the outcast now.

* * *

Sakura took a deep breath as she looked down earnestly at the land far below. They were almost home! Well, not home as in Konoha, but pretty much, it was still home. 

"Almost there!" Ino peered over Sakura's shoulder. "I can almost feel the warm air! I'm so glad to be home."

"Well, the trip was pretty good, so don't complain."

Ino was already stuffing a few of her items back into her handbag. "Yeah, it was okay. Still, though! Nothing compares to home! You actually start to miss your parents after a while."

"Yah," Sakura said, agreeing easily, "I even missed training, and waking up early in the morning!"

"I barely trained during the entire two weeks."

"Same," Sakura concurred.

There was a small clicking sound from the sound system above their heads. "We hoped you enjoyed your trip aboard Air-…" a dull monotonous voice flooded the enclosed area.

Sakura closed her eyes. She could feel herself get giddy. They were almost home! A wave of relief washed over her. She had never been so homesick. But then again, she had never been so far away from home either.

"-Please fasten your seatbelts until we have landed," said the same mechanical voice.

There was a flurry of clicks from the numerous seatbelts that were scattered throughout the plane.

* * *

Sakura looked around the bright outdoors wondrously. Bright blue clear skies, a hint of white clouds near the east, and best of all- 

"I almost forgot how it's like to breath in fresh warm air!" Tenten exclaimed.

Neji gave her a smile. He leaned down so she could hear him as he whispered. "And now it's time for us to go home, then, followed by meeting each other's parents, in a very different perspective than before."

Tenten swatted him lightly on his arm. "Don't remind me! This is supposed to be a happy moment! We're home!"

Ino chimed in abundantly, "Finally."

"Yes, finally," Shikamaru mumbled. This whole ordeal was far too long for his liking. Spending so much time with the former genin teams just plainly gave him a headache when he thoughts about it.

"Alright!" began the cheerful voice of Kakashi. "Let's stop hanging around, talking about going home, and instead, actually get a move on! That way, we'll be home before midnight."

Sakura actually smiled at her former-sensei's tactics. Well, of course they'd obviously be home before midnight. Heck, it was still morning! She mentally reminded herself to change her watch on the ride home. She had almost completely forgotten about the time zone difference.

* * *

Tenten walked down the dusty Konoha roads, with her suitcase dragging behind her. She almost regretted that she declined Neji's help. She didn't want to make him do the work for her. That would just be taking advantage of him. 

"I better go home now. I'll tell my parents, and then they'll probably want to talk to you about it. So you very well as mind come by my house tomorrow, and then I'll come by yours. Or the other way around, it doesn't really matter."

Neji nodded. "Same," he said.

She brushed her lips on her cheeks, before they separated by the fork in the road. They both said their farewells rather quickly. They were eager to get home to spread the good news.

Neji continued on the sandy road. He doubted that his family would mind much. It wasn't like he was courting with someone with a horrible bad status. Tenten wasn't exactly really well off, nor was she poor. She had an above average home and family, which would make his uncle and mother somewhat satisfied that he found someone _suitabl_e. None of those things matter. If love were about status, property, and money, then he would be better off without love.

Neji felt a pang of sympathy for Hinata. He almost felt guilty for telling off Naruto yesterday. His family would not take their relationship very well.

It wasn't like he didn't like Hinata, or anything. I wasn't like he thought she was weak or anything. It was true that her stamina and skill didn't quite reach his or Hanabi's, but she had trained hard over the last few years, and there was definite improvement.

Neji looked up as he could already hear the chortling voice of his mother as he stonily watched rush over to him.

"Okaa-san," Neji greeted warmly, bowing his head slightly out of respect.

"Neji-kun!" she greeted back.

She hadn't said his name with the "kun" suffix for a long time.

"How was your trip?"

"Fine," he said curtly.

She clasped her hands together. "Well, I think we should go back inside before we talk, shall we?"

He hadn't seen his mother so happy in a long while. He picked up his own molasses coloured suitcase with a small grunt and followed his mom back into their home.

Neji looked around wondrously. He had almost forgotten how luxurious his home sweet home was compared to where he was staying for the last fourteen days.

"Turn around!" his mom commanded happily.

Neji put down his luggage awkwardly, and turned around blankly on the spot.

"Have you lost weight? You like thinner than you left. Did they feed you properly?"

"I don't think I lost weight," Neji said with a blink, "and yes, they feed me."

His mom surveyed him. "Well, I suppose so. Maybe you've just been away from home food too long."

There was a maid in the room, already pouring two cups of fresh hot tea into the traditional teacups.

His mom motioned him to sit down on the cushion on the ground beside her. Neji hesitated for a while, but joined his Okaa-san anyways.

He took a small sip of the scalding tea. He could feel his tongue burn.

"So, how was the skiing trip?"

"You knew about the skiing trip?"

The tall regal woman gave him a warm smile. "Of course I knew! Did you really think that I'd let you go on a trip without me knowing where?"

He should have known.

"Why, did you help plan the trip too?" Neji looked at her rather sharply.

His mom offered him a snack before answering. "No, I didn't. That was mainly your ex-teacher's idea."

He always knew that Gai was a bit jumbled up in the brain.

She crossed her hands on her lap. "So, how's Tenten?"

Was it him, or did she sound somewhat eager? '_Shit, did she find out that we're seeing each other? She couldn't have possibly figured that out, could she? Unless someone told her... Should I just say that she's fine or should I just tell her the truth?'_

His mom motioned him to go on.

"About Tenten," he began, intending to just tell her. He would have to get over it sooner or later and now seemed to be a good time.

"Are you going to get married?" she asked abundantly, taking another sip of the tea.

"What?" Neji asked, confused. '_Honestly, what type of question is that? All I said was "about Tenten", and the first thing she asks me is "are you getting married?" Wouldn't a more standard question be something on the lines of "what about her?" She couldn't have known, could she? Why else would she ask if we're getting married?'_

"Oh, silly me," his mother said, "I forgot to wait for you to answer. What about Tenten?"

Neji almost dropped his teacup. He looked flabbergasted. "How do you know?"

"I already heard from Tenten's mom."

"Already?" He wasn't exactly speaking too politely to his mom, but this wasn't exactly a great time to be thinking about how much he was respecting someone.

"How did you find out so quickly?"

"We used the birds of course! How else did you think that I contact Tenten's mom?"

He didn't even know that they were friends. This couldn't be happening. He was suppose to tell her before she knew. Not find out from Tenten's _mom._

"Why did you need to contact her?"

The female Hyuuga straightened her dress. "Various things, really. I've known her for quite a while, don't you know? We actually," she started to redden a bit," Well, we actually kind of always knew that you two would eventually be seeing each other, one day or another, since you guys know each other so well, and you're both really easy to read when it comes to relationships."

Neji could feel the blood drain from his face. Was it really that obvious that they fancied each other?

* * *

A/N: Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for reading, and a huge thanks to people who reviewed! I never would have made it this far, if all of you weren't reading and/or reviewing! I know this story is crappy, and it doesn't have a clear plot, and things are random. I'm really sorry! Also, a big thank you to **evil-mittens**, for being an awesome beta-reader! This chapter took longer than I anticipated. I think it's been over month, I think! I'm really sorry for the long updates. I'll be busy studying for finals, so the next chapter might take a longer than I would like. Yes, ten chapters on Microsoft word! I don't think I ever wrote so long… There's more dialogue in this chapter, maybe that's why… 

Thanks to:

**M**oonlightpath: I know! Four weeks is pretty long for a chapter update, but this chapter took over a month. I'm sorry that I'm taking so long. Thanks for the review!

**A**nimEvivvErz: Thanks for the review! Aw, it's okay if it's not long. I don't mind. Thanks for making an effort of writing nice long reviews though! I really appreciate it! Good luck on finding your Spanish book! Although, by the time I update, you probably found it weeks ago. I almost lost my socials textbook last year, and that kind of sucked. It turned out someone else in my class had two textbooks, and one of them was mine. Hm, I don't really know much Spanish. I think I only know how to say… ah, never mind. I'm not taking spanish, I'm still stuck with french. I hope you update one of your stories soon! (or after finals… damn, I still have to study!)

**D**ragon Man 180: Thanks for the review! Well, this chapter was kind of how Neji's mom dealt with his relationship, and the next chapter will be how the Hyuuga clan will deal with Hinata and Naruto.

**R**edLotusNin and **I**cehunternin: Thanks for the review! 200IQ flames _everyone_? That's just plainly rude. There's a thick line between constructive criticizing and flaming people. Thanks so much for sharing the info!

**J**oann; **G**irlWaterShaman; **P**unk Sasuke; **D**estiny852; **B**ianca; **S**pringninja; **W**arprince2000; **P**aperpenman; **H**opeless-girl; **W**aFFles; **C**atzpoSt; **W**aterfox96; **S**ephynarutocloud; **N**aruHina133; **S**now Wind; **K**agome1015; **A**wreel; **S**usakuru; **S**asuSakuforeva-iloveSasuke: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry for the long updates. I promise that Sasuke and Sakura will get together in the coming chapters! (Which is pretty close, since this story is starting to wind down…)

**H**inata-hime- Thanks for the review! Yah, I don't think that I'm going to pair Kiba up with an OC. I'm sorry, there's not much of Sasuke in this chapter! I'll try to make sure he's in the next chapter!

**H**isuiKaze- Thanks for the review! Yes, diaries are stress relievers! Except, I don't really write in my diary. I blog though, does that count? Haha, yah, my beta also overlooked 200IQ's favourite stories. Two Sasu/Saku stories. I really don't get it… Thanks for pointing that out!

**J**ai0rOku- That's so cool! Hm, I hope you won't have someone looking through your diary, like Ino's! Thanks for the review!

**A**yane-Selznick: Thanks for the review! The Sasusaku moments are coming soon! I promise! I keep saying that to everyone, but it will be soon! Maybe two chapters? Haha, I just got an email saying that your story "Someone Screaming" just updated! I think I'll go read that now!


	16. Chapter sixteen

Dreams are Dreams  
Chapter Sixteen  
By cocoa-latte 

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

* * *

Sakura looked at her luggage bitterly. She really hadn't meant to buy so much stuff on the trip. It wasn't like she was a shopaholic or anything. She rarely bought so many clothes. There was just a thing with shopping in the last two weeks that gave her some sense of relief. 

She had almost used up all of her money that she had brought with her and it was quite a lot, she had to admit. She sighed. There was no going back now. She would just have to carry it all back home.

Sakura could already see her mom working in her garden, and her father through the kitchen window, cooking up another one of his infamous dishes.

Her mom looked up briefly from her work and her face slipped into a look of pure joy. "Sakura-chan!" her mom cried.

Sakura put down her belongings and gave her mother a hug.

"We missed you during the last few days. How was your trip?"

Sakura paused. Well, six of her friends/acquaintances were going out with each other and seemed truly in love. She however, had gotten herself a date with someone extremely pathetic and Sasuke, well, he was just how he always was.

Then again, Sasuke was being an ass for all these years, he never really acknowledged her anyway.

"It was okay," she answered shortly.

* * *

A woman with pink tresses put down her brush and looked into the mirror. She had just finished unpacking all her belongings and she had already put her dirty clothes into the beige clothing hamper. 

"Sakura-chan!" Sakura strained her ears to hear dad's jolly voice.

"Ino's here to see you."

Sakura blinked. Now? She had just gotten home an hour ago! "Um, alright. I'll be down in a sec."

She rushed down and greeted her childhood friend at her front door. "Hi," she said with a warm smile, "Did something happen?"

"I need to talk to you," Ino blurted out, "Can you tell your parents that we'll be going out for a while?"

"I just got home though," Sakura said desperately, "And I wanted to spend some time with my parents."

Ino just looked at her sharply. "Look, it's about Naruto and Hinata and it's kind of important."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Okay," Sakura said. She raised her voice and called, "I'm going to go out with Ino for a while. I'm sorry, but it's kind of important. I'll be home for dinner."

She stuffed her keys into her pocket after making sure she securely locked the door.

"Alright, what happened?"

Ino took a deep breath. "Well, apparently, Hiashi's not exactly pleased with their relationship. There's not really a surprise there, Hiashi being Hiashi, of course."

Sakura bit her lip, not saying anything.

"Hinata's really upset about it and Hiashi keep harassing her, telling her that she's always been this way. He's telling her that she's weak and how Hanabi's always better then her. Actually, at the moment, he's probably still "discussing" it with her."

* * *

Hinata blinked back tears as she stood up straight, paying attention to her father's strict voice. 

"I still don't get it, Hinata. You have everything set out right _in front of you_ and all you do is just mess it up. Look at your sister, Hanabi, for an example. You don't see her running off with someone like _him_. You're supposed to be the older one and you're the heir to this family. Doesn't this mean _anything_ to you?" He practically spat at her.

She stifled back a sob.

Her mother stood behind Hiashi, her hands clasped tightly. Her lips were pursed in a very thin line and her eyes were wide with fear.

"The next thing we need is to set an arranged marriage for you. I don't want to force you on someone you don't love. I want to you to be able to actually love someone. Couldn't you at least find a suitable—"

She could feel the tears running down her face. '_Say it!' _a voice in her head demanded.

She screamed back '_no,' _in her head.

No matter, she only had two choices: now or never…

'_Now, or forever hold you peace,'_ the voice taunted in her head.

It was now.

She took a deep shaky breath. "Do you even care what I think?" her voice was slightly wavering. "Do you really think I believe that you want me to be happy and for me to find a man I love?" her voice was growing stronger. "To be only to find a man that _you _think is suitable?" her voice was starting to get harsh. "This isn't about me. This is about what people will think of you and the clan. You don't even _care _if I'm happy. The only thing you really want is for me to marry some rich nobleman and bear children."

Her face was basked in fear. Warm, wet tears were trembling down her face. Beneath all of the fear was a glimpse of pride. She didn't even stutter saying it. Sure her voice was shaky – in the beginning, but it had turned out okay in the end.

She made her point, loud and clear.

She took a few heaving breaths, not daring to look him in the face. Instead, her eyes were fixed on his hand. '_Please, don't hit me.'_

"I didn't bring you into this world for nothing," Hiashi said, his voice cold.

Hinata bit her lip, very aware that her hands were shaking. She watched as one of her tears dripped onto the wood floor.

"I could disown you any second. Hanabi will always be more able of running this family then you probably will ever be."

He was hinting it heavily. She knew that this day would come. He was _always_ favouring Hanabi over her. He was always pushing down her self-esteem, as low as it was. He was the one who made her this way. The only reason he continued to train her was because she was the first child. This was the way it was meant to be. Hanabi would be in charge and not her.

Heck, she never even wanted to be in charge of the clan. It wasn't like she asked for it, anyway.

"I'll leave then," Hinata said quietly, her eyes downcast. She heard her okaa-san gasp. She turned his back from her father, not wanting to see his expression.

After another profound and unsteady breath, she walked back to her room, preparing to pack up a few of her important belongings before leaving – as quickly as possible.

She had already talked to Naruto about this. If she left, she would go live with him.

They would get by financially and they would eventually get married – when they were ready. Her mother had put a rather large amount of money in her personal bank account that Hiashi never knew about. She'd be fine and he couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like he was going to set a hunt to kill her.

Her eyes swept the room. She picked up a framed picture of her genin team, some random clothes from her closet, she stuffed a few more personal belongings into a bag, and picked up her unpacked suitcase that was laid on the floor. Good thing that she hadn't decide to empty out her luggage yet.

There was one more thing she needed to do. Hinata opened her desk drawer and took out a fresh blank piece of paper. She reached out for a pen and bent over to write a quick note.

_Dear Neji,_

_It's me, Hinata. As you probably have already suspected, I'm moving out. I'm going to live with Naruto and please don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'd like to thank you for everything over the years. You really helped me be the person I am today and I'm really thankful for having you behind me every step of the way. Even though you never agreed with my all decisions, you still supported me. If you ever need me, you know where to find me._

_Love, Hinata._

_PS. Could you tell Hanabi that I'm sorry, and that I'm not mad at her? Thank you. _

Hinata paused and waited as the ink dried. She blew over the sheet of paper until she was sure. She folded the parchment in half crisply and held onto the paper tightly.

Hinata left her house key on the table, ensuring that she would not be coming back as a household member, but only as a guest.

Most people would have thought that she had at least one really close employer friend in the Hyuuga household. People thought wrong. She didn't. She wasn't stupid; she knew what they said behind her back.

'_Lies.' _Hinata gripped the paper even tighter.

She picked up her things with a quiet grunt and took a last look at her room before striding out the door. She walked down the hallway and slipped the letter under Neji's closed door. He was probably out training, or with Tenten.

She continued on her way, slightly suspicious that the house was so quiet. She suspected that all of the maids have cleared the way for her, probably fearing that she would snap at them, like she did with Hiashi.

She stepped outside and welcomed the late afternoon's breeze. She wished that she hadn't brought so many things. All her belongings were starting to get awfully heavy. She continued on her way, wheezing slightly. She was already somewhat out of breath.

She continued walking on the sidewalk, ignoring some of the villagers' questioning stare.

She frowned as a tall shadow overcastted her own.

"Hinata-sam—"

"Neji-san," she cut him off, "there's no need to call me Hinata-sama anymore." She guessed that he must have just finished training.

Neji stayed stoic. "Did you leave?"

She calmed down a little. "Yeah," she said.

He gave her a small grin, which was so uncharacteristic of him. For a moment, Hinata almost thought that it _wasn't _Neji, and was some crazed impostor.

"About time," he said quietly.

"What?" she questioned, not believing that she heard correctly.

"Well," Neji started, "It's not like you were going to stay there your entire life. You didn't even want to be in charge of the clan, so what's the use of pretending that you wanted to? At least this way, life will be easier for you. I'm not saying that your father is a bad person; he just doesn't understand how things are like. You have to remember that he had an arranged marriage. He probably never really fell in love and doesn't know what it's like."

Hinata stayed silent.

"Look, things will be okay. Hiashi might be pissed now, but he'll get over it." Neji looked at her heavy luggage. "Do you need help with your things?" he asked, his face was passive.

Hinata looked up. "O-oh no, I don't want to trouble you. It's not that heavy, really! I'm probably holding you up. You should get going now…" she trailed off.

Neji nodded curtly and gave her a stern look. "Be careful."

After seeing him back in his usual stance – cold and calm, she found it hard to believe that she actually saw him grin just a few moments ago.

"Thanks," she said gratefully before going on her way.

She reached Naruto's apartment half an hour later. She knocked hesitantly.

Naruto opened the door. He looked up at her in surprise. He glanced down at her luggage and his face then broke into happiness. He leaned forward and gave her a big hug.

"You're free!" he muffled into Hinata's hair.

He broke apart from her and noticed her red and swollen eyes. He swallowed hard. "Do you want to come in? I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Thank you," Hinata said with a small smile.

Naruto helped bring Hinata's belongings into the house, placing them beside a pile of dirty laundry, before busying himself with tealeaves and boiling water.

"Sorry, I had to put your things beside the dirty clothing, but it's the only really empty space," said Naruto bitterly.

"It's okay," she answered.

He took the two mugs of steaming tea, and cleared some space on his battered wooden coffee table. Hinata was already sitting on the sofa.

"Don't mind the mess, I didn't have time to really clean up."

Hinata accepted his tea politely. "It's okay, don't worry about it."

Maybe it was too early to ask what happened, but he did anyways. "What did Hiashi say?"

Hinata took a deep intake of air. "I'm not sure if I want to talk about it right—"

Naruto cut her off. "Oh no, it's okay then. Take your time, it's okay." Naruto blurted out.

He drained his tea quickly. "My futon can fit two people, but I just have to get another blanket right now."

Hinata nodded and picked up Naruto and her own empty teacup. She walked over to the sink and took out a nearly empty bottle of dish detergent. She filled the sink up with scalding soapy water and washed Naruto's dishes.

Naruto came back, holding a pillow. "You don't have to wash my dishes. It's alright, I can wash them myself."

Hinata frowned. "I will be living here, so I suppose I have to have my own share of house chores, right?"

Naruto couldn't help but grin. "Nah, I can be your personal slave," he said jokingly.

She gave him a weak smile. She didn't know why she was so upset. She already knew that her father would not approve of Naruto. She knew that, but why was she still in shock of everything?

Naruto broke through her reverie. "Hinata?" he asked.

"Oh, yah. It's okay. I'll wash the dishes. Thanks for offering though." Hinata paused before asking. "Did you eat dinner yet?"

"Um, no, not yet. We can have ramen if you want. If not, we can always go out to eat."

"I-it's okay, I'll cook dinner today. Will the grocery store on the corner still be open?"

"It's usually open until seven, so yeah, it probably will be."

Hinata gave him yet another weak smile. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes then."

"See you," Naruto called.

"See you," Hinata echoed.

Hinata returned shortly after, her hands full of fresh vegetables, fish, and meat.

"Do you need help?"

"No, I'm okay. You probably aren't too much of a cook, are you?" she asked, referring to his troubles of making a variety of food, other than instant ramen.

The tall blonde man blinked. "Well, technically no. Can I watch though? That way, maybe I'll get a sense of making food. One day, I'll repay you with a great big feast. You won't regret it."

"Alright." Hinata gave him a smile.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're stuttering less often now!"

"N-no, don't say that!" her voice was unsteady.

"Sorry, I guess saying that kind of tinkers the stuttering in your mind, or something like that."

Hinata stayed silent as she began to chop up some cucumbers and onions.

She blinked hard as tears stung her eyes. Stupid onions. Onions had never made her eyes tear up.

There was always a first time for everything. She wiped away the tears furiously on the sleeve of her hand. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, but no avail. The tears kept flowing.

"Are you okay?" asked a gentle voice, full of concern.

"Yah, it's just the onions that are making me cry."

Naruto made a face. "That happened to me before. I don't really cut vegetables that often anymore though. Ramen is usually good enough for me. Why don't you wash up, and I'll finish chopping for you? I think that chopping up vegetables is the only thing I can do decently."

"Thanks," Hinata said quietly.

She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. She washed her hands before measuring the rice for that night's dinner.

She began to wash the rice thoroughly, watching the watery-milky substance that emitted from the short grains of rice. She waited until the water ran clear and she began to cook on the rice on the stovetop.

"You should really get a rice cooker," Hinata commented nonchalantly, trying to forget that evening's current events.

Naruto shrugged. "I was thinking of getting one for a while, since everyone who came over would always complain, but I opted not to, since I don't cook rice that often.

"I'll get one for you."

Naruto broke into a grin. "It's for _us_!" he exclaimed. "Finally, we can say us, now that we're living together. Thank you though."

Hinata smiled lightly. "Welcome and yah, we can finally say us."

A loud echoing ring of the doorbell rung in Naruto and Hinata's ears; "I'll get that," Naruto said abruptly. He put down the knife, and shook that last pieces of chopped veggies off his hands.

"'Kay," Hinata said.

Naruto walked over to his rather bland front door. He opened a small crack and peeped out the door, only to be answered by a fury of questions.

"Whoa, hold on there," said the surprised shinobi.

Ino made a huffing noise, before talking. "This is actually important. "Have you heard about Hinata? Her dad's furious at her, and the only thing that you're doing is spending a nice day at home." She gave him a glare.

"Wrong," Naruto scoffed.

Sakura, who was at Ino's side sighed. "Well, what are you doing then?"

"I have good news to tell you—"

"You never even answered my question. Stop changing the subject." Ino's voice was sharp.

Their tempers were waning. Naruto glanced back and forth at the two impatient women that stood before him. For two people who used to have petty fights over a certain raven-haired man, they were sure similar in many ways.

"Hinata's living here right now;" Naruto crossed his arms and looked at the two knowingly.

The two kunoichi's expressions were just as he predicted. Shocked, gobsmacked, and both scarily similar.

"She moved out?" Ino asked, stunned.

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed proudly.

Sakura sighed and crossed her arms. "You must be rubbing off on her then."

Naruto didn't say anything about her last comment. "Why don't you come in? She might be happier with company. I know it must be a big difference for her, growing up in a huge mansion and now living in a crappy apartment, such as this one. It's not even exactly clean."

"At least it's cozy…" Sakura trailed off.

Naruto looked at her blankly. "This is not what I would call cozy."

"Come on, it's not horrible. You have a roof over you head. Be grateful," said Ino pointedly.

"You sound like Iruka."

Ino made a face at Naruto before coming in. She shut the door behind her. "Well, Hinata's an awesome cook, so at least you won't be stuck eating ramen all the time."

Sakura laughed in the background.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating ramen and for your information, I help her cook too!"

Sakura grinned. "Cutting the vegetables?"

Naruto looked confused. "How do you know? Are you stalking me or something?"

"I don't have _that _much time on my hands to stalk you. Don't worry, it was just a good guess."

"A lucky guess," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "Do you want something to eat or drink something? 'Cause if you want a snack, you're going to have to wait a while, since we're still cooking."

"Um, no, it's okay," Sakura said mildly

He turned his attention to Ino.

"Same, she said absently, "Can we talk to Hinata? If you don't mind, that is."

"'Course."

They followed Naruto to the kitchen. Hinata was busying herself, wrapping the vinegar-marinated rice, with meat, and the vegetables that Naruto was cutting before the two arrived. She folded it up in a crisp sheet of seaweed.

She looked up. "Oh, hi Sakura, Ino," she said with a smile.

"Hi," they both chorused back.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked with concern.

Hinata began to cut the sushi into pieces. "Of course! I-I've actually been meaning to leave for a while. Since Hanabi's always the one who beats me in everything I do. I don't blame her of course…" she trailed off.

Sakura looked at her pale friend sincerely. "We're always here if you need us."

"Thanks," she said with a smile, "But really, I'll be fine."

Sure Hinata was shaken up by the recent proceedings that had taken place in her life, but now she was so free. She could do as she pleased without someone at her back, constantly. She could rid of her old life and live a new one happily, with Naruto.

There was pregnant pause. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I've made enough for all four of us."

"Oh, no. I'm fine, really. It's your first day here and we can't bother you when you're settling in and all."

"I insist though," Hinata said, "I really did make enough. I know that you're thinking that Naruto has a big appetite, but I've made enough for him too."

"We really couldn't do that," Ino began, "Thank you for offering. Now, we don't want to be in the way of your dinnertime, so we'll come by tomorrow to help you settle in, if you want."

"Thanks! T-that would be great!"

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow then!"

Naruto, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura bid their goodbyes, before parting.

Sakura and Ino walked on the cobblestone sidewalk, heading their way home. They walked the same route home, like they always had done when they were younger.

"So," Sakura said conversationally, "Did you tell you mom about you and Shikamaru-san?"

Ino walked a bit further before answering. "No, not yet. I plan to though. Actually, I'll probably tell her tonight. I don't enjoy keeping secrets that much. I know, even though my mom and I don't get along that well. She'll find out sooner or later. She probably will be happy that I'm marrying a genius, or something like that. "

"Well, that's good," Sakura said with a laugh, "At least they won't be revolting against you two."

"Hm," Ino mused. "So, what's going on between you and Sasuke?"

"What?" Sakura bursted out, "I haven't even talked to him since forever. How many times do I have to _tell _you? I _don't _like him!"

'_How long does it take to penetrated through that thick skulls of hers, anyway?"_

Ino had a definite evil grin on her face. "Oh, but does he have any feelings for you?"

She wouldn't ask what Ino was talking about. She would will herself out of curiosity. "Stop talking nonsense. We've been through this about a million times already. He doesn't care about me, nor do I care about him."

'_What does she mean though? Does he really—No, of course not! This is Sasuke that we're talking about! Not some other guy. Why can't she just leave me alone though? Is she mocking me or something?'_

Ino didn't say anything. She changed the subject. "It's nice being back in Konoha, isn't it?"

'_Damn it, she changed the subject.' _Sakura blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Yeah, it's great to be back. I missed being able to breath in fresh warm air."

"I know what you mean. The air was so hard to breath during the trip. It's like sticking your head in the freezer and taking a deep breath of air."

Sakura nodded, agreeing to Ino. Sakura was at her doorstep now. "I'll come drop by the flower shop tomorrow, if you would like. Then, we can go visit and Hinata and Naruto to see how they're coming alone."

"Yup," Ino said merrily, "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye! Oh, and maybe we can have lunch tomorrow with a few people."

"Sounds good, I don't have any missions or anything coming up for a while."

"Maybe they're afraid that we have jetlag or something."

"I don't really have jetlag, so it's okay. How about you?"

"It's not that bad for me, so it's fine."

"Yah, so I'll see you tomorrow."

Sakura fished out her keys and unlocked the door.

"Sakura, are you home?" her mother called.

Sakura took off her shoes and placed it neatly on the floor. "Yah, I'm sorry that I took so long."

"It's okay, it's dinnertime, by the way."

She sat down beside the low table and looked at the large heap of rice was on her bowl and noticed that her plate was already filled with all types of meat, vegetables, and other foods, along with a steaming bowl of soup.

"Wow, dinner looks really good!" Sakura exclaimed. "Did it take forever for you two to make?"

"No, it wasn't too bad. Well, it did take longer than usual, but it is your first day back, and what's better then to celebrate your home coming by having a feast?"

"Nothing, I suppose," she said with a smile.

"Itadakimasu," her family chorused happily.

They ate in a comfortable silence for the first few minutes, before her mom placed down her chopsticks. "So, would you like to tell us what you did on your trip?"

"Well, we arrived at the ski resort and it's unbelievable cold there. I've never seen so much snow in one spot. We went skiing regularly; we had ramen constantly, so in the end, we kept going out to eat, since no one really likes ramen that much. We had a snowball war, we attended a dance, and a skunk sprayed Naruto and Hinata. I know a skunk in places where it snows is bizarre. I heard that it gets really sunny in the summer, in the resort, and the snow melts, so people go there and play golf."

Her parents stopped chewing, and listened intensely.

She continued, "So maybe there isn't always snow there. Eventually, we got sick of the snow and Kiba also broke a window there. There weren't really enough washrooms there for all of us, but we managed. That's basically it." She took a deep breath to renew her oxygen source.

She took another deep breath. "Oh, and Naruto and Hinata finally got together, along with Ino and Shikamaru—"

"That's great!" her father said enthusiastically. "I wonder what Hiashi will say…"

"As well as Neji and Tenten."

She watched as her parents eyed each other dreamily. "Quite a lot of people!" Her mom nudged her father. "Seems like we just met yesterday!"

His father merely just smiled back, with the same dreamy smile on his face.

Sakura eyed her parents, mortified. This really wasn't a great time for them to be thinking of all this.

Sakura's thoughts wandered back to her and Ino's conversation earlier that day; '_Still, I wonder what Ino meant…'_

To be honest, she had never seen her parents so lovesick. In fact, they hardly ever showed their affections for each other publicly, including in front of Sakura.

She quickly looked back down at her food and ate a top speed. There must have been something that activated the love section of their brains or something.

Thankfully, she finished quickly enough. She put her dishes in the sink and hurried off to her room. She needed time to think about a few things.

In the back of her head, Inner Sakura was still complaining. '_Come on!' _Inner Sakura began, _'Go up to Sasuke and confront him about it. If not, go find Ino!'_

It was rather unlikely that _that _would happen.

'_Great,' _she thought with a stubborn expression on her face, '_I don't even have the guts to go confront my best friend, or Sasuke about this dilemma.'_

She shut her bedroom door firmly. It was pleasantly nice to be able to relax in her bedroom without having to worry about a roommate barge in any second.

She took in the sense of calmness in her own room. She had convinced her parents to paint her once pink walls to a more sophisticated shade of green. Now, seeing the solid green on her walls of her bedroom calmed her immensely. She had long ago rid her room with childhood objects, such as the small pink piggy bank that she used to adore, or the bright flowered print on her bed sheets.

"Sakura-chan," her mom called in a singsong voice, "Your father and I will be going out for a nice stroll in the park. We'll be back shortly!"

The slender pink-haired woman flinched at her mother's words. She should have warned the world to stay inside. Someone might catch her parents kissing, or something else that would scar one's mind, not only for her sake, but for everyone's.

"Alright, have a good time," she forced herself to say.

Shortly, she could hear the small "click" from the door.

What was it with the phrase "Love's in the air?" She undeniably hated it. She could sense it and it made her feel queasy.

She stared out her window for a long while, watching her parent's promenade down the cobblestone sidewalk in ease, hand in hand.

She had never seen them act this way. Ever. Was it her, or was everyone around her rather suddenly amorous?

She closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet scent of fresh air that billowed into the room from her open window.

* * *

Sakura sat between Tenten and Naruto in a rather squishy table booth at the restaurant. True to her words, she met Ino at the flower shop and they went to visit Naruto and Hinata, seeing how they were settling in together. They tagged along for lunch and they met Tenten on the way, inviting her to come as well. 

"Where's Neji, Tenten-chan?" Hinata asked timidly.

"Home," Tenten said shortly.

"Oh, I see…"

"It's so unfair!" Tenten slammed her fists down at the table. "Neji's and my mom are completely insane. How could I not have noticed it before?"

Sakura's eyes widened at her sudden outburst. She said carefully, "What is it?"

Tenten curled her finger around her long brown mane. "They think that we're going to get married. Already. I'm not complaining about marriage, because I'd love to be married to Neji, more than anything! But don't you think that it's a little too soon? We're only eighteen, for Christ's sake!"

Ino nodded sympathetically.

"I mean, eighteen's not too young for marriage, but I think that us getting married would be going to fast, don't you think? We only _just _got together!"

Naruto put down his tea. "Well, it depends, really. If you really love each--

"—We do," Tenten said, cutting in.

"We know you do," Ino said gently, reassuring her. She sent Naruto a glare.

"The thing is that, they're already planning for the wedding." Tenten abruptly turned around to face Ino. "So, what did your parents say? I'm sure that they're saner then to plan _your _wedding for you." She was speaking all very fast.

Ino's face fell, not wanting to edge Tenten on more. "Well, they didn't exactly say much."

"See?" Tenten started exasperatedly. "Why can't I have a mother like yours? What do I get? A mom who's plotting with my now-husband-to-be's mother. For _our _wedding!"

"Well, weddings are really pretty. The bride gets to wear a nice traditional wedding dress, well most of the time they do, and everyone's in tuxes or their best clothes…" Naruto broke off as he caught the look on Tenten's face.

"I don't even want to think about wearing "nice traditional" dresses right now. Actually, I'm not sure if I even I want to wear one of those! That's not the point though, the point is that I don't want a marriage right now!"

"Just object to them and see what they say," Sakura reasoned with her.

Tenten sighed and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "We've tried." She paused. "A few times, actually," she added. "They're just so excited about this and we don't really want to let them down, or anything like that. Well, it wouldn't matter that much if it were just my mom, but its Neji's mom too! I want to be on good terms with both of them, so at least I won't have to end up with a bitter mother-in-law, or something like that."

She took a deep breath.

"Well, at least Neji's mom is better than Hiashi. About Hiashi, are you settling in okay?" she asked with concern.

Hinata took a deep breath. "I-I think I am, now."

Naruto gave her a warm smile. His pearly white teeth were gleaming.

They didn't say anything for a while, still pondering on the recent events that have taken place.

Tenten gave a sigh. "I have to hurry on home to see what else my mom has planned for us. I hope she doesn't do anything to extravagant. I never really wanted a big wedding anyway. I don't even like wearing formal dresses. Bye and hopefully the next time you see me, I won't be trying out my wedding gown."

"Oh, alright! I'll see you soon then," Sakura said pleasantly, trying to ignore Tenten's sarcasm.

After taking care of the bill, they continued on to their separate ways. Sakura raked her fingers down her long mane, detangling her hair. She mind was well should go home. It wasn't like she had any missions or anything coming up. She reached the fork in the road and paused.

'_I should really go training, or at least work out,' _the thought ran through her mind. So, instead of taking the common road home, she turned right, walking down the familiar path to her usual training area.

She looked around the wide clearing and reminisced that this once was Sasuke's training area as well. Of course he didn't come around here anymore. She supposed that he abandoned the clearing after finding out that Sakura knew it as well. She was still lovesick over him in those days. She was only thirteen after all.

She propped up her belongings on a large tree trunk, watching the leaves' constantly moving shadows on the ground. She took a deep breath and dropped herself to the ground. She would start with push-ups first.

'_Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine.' _She took another wheezing breath before her body collapsed back on the ground. Had she really gotten so out-of-shape during the last two weeks? She knew that she wouldn't be physically as strong after her absence from training; but to not be able to do _half _of the training she could before the break was awful. After all, she had worked so far to achieve as far as she did. Only to see it crumble in a short amount of time was disturbing.

She forced herself back on her feet. She short and rapid breaths slowly turned back to normal. '_Next, let's see how my charka control is.' _

She gathered some charka to her feet. She looked up at one of the tall trees. True, this was one of the techniques that Kakashi had taught them in their genin days and it was a little outdated. It beyond doubt did help her though.

She walked up the tree with ease.

She stood there for a few moments, enjoying nature, and remembering old memories.

"Sakura?" A deep male voice called.

She closed her eyes and took an intake of air. Of all times, why now?

She jumped back down and landed on the ground easily. "Sasuke," she acknowledged. She mind as well greet him, now that he saw her.

'_What was Ino saying about Sasuke and I again? Something on the lines of "does he have feelings for you"? What's that suppose to mean? He clearly doesn't care about me anymore than an old team mate!' _Sakura could feel her heart beat faster as she neared Sasuke.

Sasuke stood there calmly, twirling a kunai in his left hand. "Are you training?"

A forced small frown came upon her face. She prayed she wasn't blushing. She concluded that she probably wasn't. She would not go back on the past. "Oh no, I just finished. How about you?"

He placed the kunai back into his weapon pouch. "I was about to. I haven't been to this training area in a long while, so I decided to come along."

"You were _about _to?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not anymore?"

'_Calm down,' _she thought, '_It's not like he came here to see me.'_

Sasuke stayed silent for a while. "I know that you're not done training, so it wouldn't be fair if I just came along to take up your training space."

'_He's awfully talkative today,' _Sakura noted in her head.

Sasuke looked back down at his feet awkwardly. He kept his face stoic. He didn't want to show any emotions. This wasn't going the way he wanted. Not that he wanted something to happen between them.

Firstly, he was pretty sure that he felt nothing for her. Secondly, He wasn't blind. If he liked her, he would have already gone out with her. If he hadn't by now, he was positive that there was nothing between them. Thirdly, even _**if** _he liked her, she would never take him back.

'_I don't like her,' _he forced himself to think. He knew that Sakura wasn't ugly. She was living proof that she wasn't. But more and more often, he found himself looking at her. Watching out for her. He actually _waited _for her, after her date, making sure the other guy didn't try to make any moves on her.

Sakura broke his reverie. "Well, I suppose I could keep on training. Hey, you know what? Do you want to spar?"

'_I don't know why I just said that.'_

She _loved_ him more than anything. Maybe it was just a childhood crush, but now, it was just a memory. It was the hardest thing for her to do, but she got over him. Or so she thought.

But now; now she wasn't sure how she felt.

A hint of smile turned up on the corners of Sasuke's lips. It disappeared quickly. The Uchiha wasn't a man who had openings. "Sure," he answered, his voice in the usual monotone state.

Was that a hint of a smile that she saw on his face? Or was it just her imagination? Sakura assumed it was the latter. Good, he had agreed. There was nothing more to it. '_Alright, act normal now.'_

This was still slightly awkward. "Okay," Sakura began, "Rules. First of all, let's make this taijutsu and genjitsu only, alright? Ninjutsu isn't really an option."

She paused and waited for Sasuke to agree. He nodded.

"You can use your Sharingan and going _easy _against each other is not an option. I'm not as weak as you last saw me fight. I won't be that great either, since I haven't trained at all in the last two weeks." She stressed the word "easy".

He crossed his arms. "It's okay, I haven't been training much either."

"No one trained. Well, not regularly, at least."

He couldn't help but notice how green her eyes were. He loved that shade of green. If he would ever admit it, it'd be one of his favourite colours.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked.

He had been staring. Sasuke composed himself. "No," he answered as calmly as he could. "So, how about a time-limit of twenty-minutes?" he suggested, trying to stray off the former topic.

"Sounds good, we probably wouldn't be able to last longer than that in our current state," she sighed, "Well, I can't speak for you, but for me, that's the case."

He nodded. His face was serious again. "Let's start."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took me quite a while to write. Well, it's twice as long as the last chapter. (in numbers words, that is.) I had finals, so I was busy studying for that, and it pretty much ate up my free time. Thanks to everyone for reading and a huge thanks to those who reviewed! Thanks to my beta: **evil-mittens**! 

**Note**: I know that Hinata is seventeen in this story. It's of course not legal to leave the house before you're eighteen, because she's still underage. She really needed to leave, so I hope that clears things up!

Thanks to:

**M**int- First of all, thank you so much! You really made me realize that the whole Sasuke and Sakura pairing wasn't going to work how I was writing it. I'm horrible at planning things out. I always start writing before I have a well defined plot. It never works out either. I'm sorry that it has been a disappointment and that this chapter didn't have much interaction between the two of them, until the end. I really needed to put in the problems with the other pairings. The next few chapters will be a lot more Sakura and Sasuke-centred. Again, thanks so much! Your review really helped.

**A**nimEvivErz- Thanks for the huge review! (and always reading!) Ulgh, don't remind me about finals! Okay, I know school is over by now, but finals were still horrible. I hope you did okay on yours! Yah, I'm glad that they're back in Konoha too. How much can I spend time writing about snow? Five hours of sleep? That is horrible. I think I would die with only five hours of sleep. Not shrivel up and die, but… yah! It's a figure of a speech! Blah, I'm not making sense anymore.

**G**irlWaterShaman, **R**edLotusNin and **I**ceHunterNin, **W**arprince2000, **N**ixxie1430, **D**anny171984, **C**hocobaby, **L**amikhara, **M**y-ripped-paper-heart- Thanks for the review! I promise I'll get on with the Sasu/Saku scenes!

**K**agome1015- Thanks for the review! Actually, I'm not sure how many chapters are left. I have to make sure that I don't rush the Sasu/Saku moment. That wouldn't be very good.

**H**arukakanata- Thanks for the review! No, it's not you. There is something wrong with Neji's mom. I made her strange in this story. She'll be playing a bigger part later on, so you'll find out. (I think. I still have to figure that part out.) I'm not sure if you'll see this, but I'm sad that you won't be writing fanfiction anymore! I really love your stories! I'll miss you!

**D**ragon Man 180- Yes, Hinata does leave! Thanks for the suggestions!

**S**asuSakuforeva-iloveSasuke- Yah, their mothers knew it all along! There will be more sasu/saku moments in the next few chapters, I promise. Thanks for reading!

**J**Ai0rOku- Sorry it took me so long to update! Even though they're back in Konoha, there will be more chapters to come, don't worry. (I know I said in the last chapter "Only a few chapters left", but now, I'm not sure. I don't want to rush it. Thanks for reviewing!

**A**yane Selznick- Thanks for the review! I love Someone Screaming. I can't wait until the alternative ending. Five more reviews! I really should go and write five anonymous reviews. Alright, I already said that I wouldn't, 'cause that's cheating.

**D**esting852- Yes, they will get married! Can you hear the wedding bells? Actually, I only hear myself typing on the keyboard… Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**B**lacksamuri- Thanks for the review! Don't think that way! Just remember, write for yourself and not others. People may not always like what others write; don't worry, there's nothing wrong with that. It's like a fact, there will always people who don't like certain things, so don't let that get you down. )

**S**ephynarutocloud- Hm, I'm not sure if there will be a sequel yet. There's still more chapters to come, so don't worry. Thanks for the review!

**T**wilight- Thanks so much! I fixed a few things that you mentioned. In chapter fourteen (not that you probably will go back and see the changes C) I added a section where you find out why Shikamaru has the diary and how he got a hold of it. Also, in the last chapter, I changed a bit of the interaction between Neji and his mom. Um, I think they add the "-sama" suffix after someone they have respect for. I think. XD Don't kill me if that's not completely correct because I'm not too familiar with Japanese.


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